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THE     BEST 

AM  E  R I  CAN 

ORATIONS 

OFT  OD  AY 

Compiled  by 

Harriet  Blackstone 

Compiler  of  ''■New  Pieces    That    Will  .Take  Prizes   in 

Prize  Speaking  Contests.'''' 

€                      '^'^ 

HINDS,   NOBLE   &   ELDREDGE 

31-33-35  West  15TH  Street,  New  York  City 

Copyright,  1903,  by  Hinds  &  Noble 


«r  '     • 


Co 
Our    future    Orators 


nn.^Aoa 


> 


PREFACE. 

Now  and  then  in  the  march  of  a  Nation's 
life  there  occurs  within  a  brief  period  a  conflux 
of  events  memorable  in  history.  Such  a  time 
carries  with  it  into  fame  some  of  the  men  who 
live  and  toil  for  the  welfare  and  honor  of  their 
country. 

It  has  been  the  aim  of  the  editor  to  collect  in 
this  volume  the  best  thoughts  of  the  best  Ameri- 
cans of  this  distinctively  notable  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  own  Nation — men  who  are  most  promi- 
nent in  its  affairs,  and  who  stand  as  the  highest 
types  of  honesty,  intelligence  and  useful  citizen- 
ship for  the  emulation  of  the  youth  of  our  land. 

How  many  men  prominent  to-day  will  be  re- 
membered in  years  to  come,  no  one  living  can 
foresee ;  but  the  records  in  this  book  of  the 
thoughts  and  words  and  deeds  of  this  expansive 
period,  are  worthy  of  our  thoughtful  study. 

These  addresses  have,  for  the  most  part,  been 
selected  by  the  authors  themselves,  because  they 
are  in  their  own  opinion  best  suited  for  the  col- 
lection. Some  few  are  retrospective  ;  they  will 
serve  by  contrast  to  show  us  our  development. 
Some  are  biographical ;  they  will  keep  us  in  mind 


Vi  PREFACE. 

of  the  fact  that  others  paved  the  way  for  us— 
that  we  are  followers  as  well  as  leaders. 

The  speeches  of  Webster,  Clay,  Pitt,  Patrick 
Henry,  Calhoun,  Lincoln,  Beecher,  and  many 
others,  are  to  be  found  in  almost  every  Speaker 
and  Reader  now  published.  They  have  been  de- 
claimed for  years  from  every  school  platform  in 
the  country,  and  with  most  inspiring  influence. 

Andrew  Draper  says  :  *'  The  old-time  school 
declamation  on  recurring  red-letter  days  in  the 
regular  routine  of  the  early  schools  was  a  great 
stimulant  to  boys  and  girls.  It  was  not  more  in 
the  words  that  were  heard  than  in  the  fact  that 
the  boys  themselves  gave  expression  to  them. 
It  is  the  doing  of  things  which  stirs  ambition 
and  creates  power,  even  the  doing  of  things 
which  some  one  else  has  done.  There  are  plenty 
of  men  prominent  in  affairs  who  would  gladly 
testify  to  the  uplifting  influences  of  the  master- 
pieces of  oratory  and  literature  on  their  own 
lives  by  means  of  the  school  declamation." 

This  is  true,  and  let  us  have  unabated  respect 
and  reverence  for  the  orators  of  the  past,  but  let 
us  also  satisfy  the  universal  demand  for  "  some- 
thing new,''  The  speeches  in  this  volume  meet 
this  demand.  They  are  certainly  "  ;z^z£;."  They 
deal  with  our  present  problems  and  methods  of 
government.  They  proclaim  the  thoughts  of 
our  wisest  men.  They  will  educate  and  inspire 
for  future  effort. 


PREFACE,  Vll 

Requests  for  material  for  this  collection  have 
met  with  generous  response  from  our  leading 
statesmen,  financiers,  college  presidents,  minis- 
ters, and  other  prominent  Americans  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  To  them  we  are  indebted 
for  the  fine  addresses  presented  here.  It  has 
afforded  pleasure  and  has  been  an  inspiration  to 
the  editor  to  note  the  uniform  courtesy  and 
kindly  interest  of  these  busy,  great  men  of  our 
Nation  who  have  taken  the  time  in  the  midst  of 
their  pressing  duties  to  arrange  these,  their  best 
thoughts,  for  the  use  of  the  students  in  our 
schools  and  colleges.  Surely  these  gems  of 
thought  should  help  to  make  good  citizens. 

To  those  who  would  declaim  these  orations 
the  writer  offers  a  few  words  of  suggestion  : 

Do  not  attempt  to  speak  before  an  audience 
except  after  faithful  preparation.  Practice  vocal 
exercises  until  your  tones  are  clear  and  smooth 
and  round.  The  voice  need  not  be  harsh  and 
loud  to  "  carry "  well.  Practice  articulation 
drills  until  it  is  easy  to  speak  every  word  dis- 
tinctly and  beautifully,  for  "  all  art  is  preceded 
by  a  certain  mechafiical  skills  Never  make  a 
gesture  unless  it  adds  to  the  thought  and  makes 
the  meaning  plainer.  Remember  that  you  are 
simply  the  medium  that  presents  the  thoughts, 
and  your  aim  should  be  to  put  yourself  in  perfect 
harmony,  mentally  and  bodily,  with  your  subject. 
In  selecting  your   oration,  make  sure  it  is  one 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

that  you  heartily  believe  in,  then  memorize  it  so 
thoroughly  that  it  shall  seem  to  be  your  own  ex- 
pression of  your  own  ideas.  Speak  it  without 
affectation — simply,  earnestly,  directly.  Forget 
self — and  your  efforts  will  be  worthy  the  atten- 
tion of  your  hearers. 

A  speaker  should  either  entertain,  instruct,  or 
inspire  to  action.  Unless  he  can  do  this,  he 
should  not  intrude  upon  the  time  and  the  atten- 
tion of  his  hearers. 

Do  not  rely  upon  inspiration.  You  can  not 
speak  well  unless  you  know  how,  and  you  should 
not  speak  at  all  unless  you  have  something  that 
is  worth  saying.  So  let  your  reliance  be  based 
upon  careful  preparation,  to  the  end  that  inspira- 
tion, when  the  moment  comes,  shall  find  its 
fitting  vehicle  in  the  mastery  of  your  subject  and 
your  self. 

This  advice  should  not  discourage,  for  **  it  is 
constructive,  and  it  tears  down  only  to  build  better'' 
The  young  man  who  can  see  in  life  the  things 
worthwhile  ;  who  can  think  of  what  he  sees,  and 
then  tell  it  simply  and  earnestly,  promises  well 
— both  for  himself  and  for  his  country. 

Harriet  Blackstone. 
May  12,  1903. 


CONTENTS 


Americanism      ....  Theodore  Roosevelt    ...  i 

Puritan  Spirit,  The       .     .  Hon.  Albert  J.  Beveridge  .  4 

Our  Recent  Diplomacy     .  Hon.  John  Hay     ....  10 

H^alue  of  Judgment,  The  .  Charles  F.    Thwing,  D.D.  16 

Trusts        Hon.J.B.Foraker  ...  19 

New  Movement   in   Hu-  William  Jewett     Tucker ^ 

manity,  The    ....  LL.D.     .  23 

•education  for  Life       .     .  Minot  Judson  Savage,D.D.  26 
Immortality  of  Good 

Deeds,  The    ....  Hon.  Thomas  Brackett  Reed  33 

New  Patriotism,  The       .  Richard  Watson  Gilder     .  40 

Union  Soldier,  The     .     .  Hon.  John  M.  Thurston    ,  42 
^^en  :  Made,  Self-made, 

and  Unmade       .     .     .  E.G.  Robinson,  D.D„  LL.D.  46 

Battle  of  Santiago,  The    .  Hon.  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  .  56 

Work  and  Play  ....  Hamilton  Wright  Mabie  .  58 
March  of  the  Constitution, 

The Andrew  S.  Draper,  LL.D.  61 

r^ducation   and   the   Self- 
made  Man Grover  Cleveland     .     .     .  66 

Soldier  Boy,  The     .     .     .  Hon.  John  Davis  Long      .  69 

Manly  Fellow,  A.     .     .     .  Cyrus  Northrop,  LL.D.     .  73 

Daniel  Webster  ....  Hon.  George  F.  Hoar    .     .  75 

Spanish  Prisoners  of  War  .  William  Dean  Howells    .  78 

**  Forefathers'  Day  "    .     .  Arthur   Twining  Hadley, 

LL.D.  83 

Citizenship Hon.  William  P.  Frye .     .  89 

Reverence  for  the  Flag    .  Ge7i.  Horace  Porter  ...  92 


CONTENTS. 


Art  of  Optimism,  The  .     Wtlh'atn  De    Witt 
**^  New  Era  in  Higher  Edu- 


Hyde, 
LL.D. 


cation,  The        .  .    . 

Decoration  Day    ,  .     . 

Profit  of  the  Laborer 
and  Consumer,  The  . 

"  Open  Door  "  Policy 
in  China,  The  .    .    . 

John  Marshall    .     .     . 

Uplifting  of  the  Negro 
Race,  The  .... 

Last  Address  of  Wil- 
liam McKinley,  The  . 

Navy,  The      .... 

"  Lest  We  Forget " 

Piety  and  Civic  Virtue . 


James  B.  Angell,  LL.D.  . 
Hon.  W.  Bourke  Cockran 


94 

98, 
103 


Hon.  Elihu  Root 10^ 


Hon.  Cushman  K.  Davis  . 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Jr. 

Booker  T.  Washington     . 


Admiral  George  Dewey 


108 
no 


118 

125 


David  Starr  Jordan,  LL.D  .   1 27 
Charles    Henry    Park  hurst, 

D.D.     .  131 
Benjamin  Harrison     .     .     .134 
Henry  Van  Dyke,  D.D.,  LL.D.  140 


Abraham  Lincoln     . 
Commerce     .... 
Our     National      Safe- 
guards      Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew 


Social  Discontent      .     . 

William  McKinley   .     . 

Man  With  His   Hat   in 
His  Hand,  The    .     . 

Cure    for    Anarch- 
ism, The     .... 

Expansion      .... 

*^Uses  of  Education  for 

Business      .... 

Peacemakers  of  Blessed 
Memory     .... 

Keys  to  Success,  The 
-MU-Equipment  for  Service 


Hon.  John  William  Griggs. 
G.  Stanley  Hall,  LL.D.      .     , 


143 
146 
150 


Clark  Howell 155 

Lyman  Abbott,  D.D.      .     .     .  1 58 

Hon.  Henry  L.  Walter  son     .  160 

Charles  William  Eliot,  LL.D.  163 


Gen.  Lew  Wallace  .  .  .  .169 
Edward  William  Bok  .  .  .172 
Woodrow  Wilson,  LL.D.  .     .177 


CONTENTS.  XI 

World  a  Whispering  Newell  Dwight  Ht'lh's, 

Gallery,  The    ....  D.D.    .  179 

O^^^ei^rowth  :  An  Evidence  Nicholas  Murray  Butler^ 

•*  of  Education   ....  LL.D.  182 

Patriotism Hon,  Charles  Emory  Smith  185 

Pursuit      of      Happi- 
ness, The   Charles  Dudley  Warner    .  187 

Combination  of  Capital 
and  Consolidation  of 
Labor Justice  David  J.  Brewer  .   189 

Flag,  The Wallace  Bruce     .     .     .     .191 

Modern  Fiction  ....     Opie  P.  Read 194 

Recognize  the  Unions     .     M.  W.  Stryker,  LL.D. .     .197 

America  a  World  Power     Archbishop  John  Ireland   .  202 

Competition  .....    Jacob  Gould  Schurrnan,  .     , 

D.Sc,  LL.D  206 

General  Welfare,  The     .     Hon.    Whitelaw  Reid  .  209 

ifc^National  Unity  and   the 

State  University      .     .      Wm.  L.  Prather,  LL.D.    .  214 

Our  Relations   with    the 

World Hon.   Franklin  MacVeagh  218 

Problem  of  the  Philippines  Hon.  Henry  M.  Teller    .    .  222 

Genius  and  Character  of 
Grant Hon.  Clark  E.  Carr  .    .     .225 

Sovereignty  Follows  the 

Flag George  R.  Peck 231 

The  Conquerors    .     .     .     Hon.  Cresswell  MacLaughlin  234 

"  Let  Us  Have  Peace  "      Hon.  Carl  Schurz  ....  238 

Honor  to  the  Patriot  Spy     Edward  Everett  Hale,  D.D.  241 

Our  Commercial   Rela- 
tions     Hon.  Shelby  Cullom    .     .     .  244 

Dead  upon  the  Field  of     Thomas    Wentworth    Hig- 
Honor ginson 246 

State   Versus   Anarchy, 
The L.  Clark  Seelye.D.D.,  LL.D.  2SO 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


What  is  Truth  ?  .     .     . 
New  Century  Greeting, 

A 

Rufus  Choate  .     .     .     . 
Commerce  Clause  of  the 

Constitution  and  the 

Trusts,  The  .  .  . 
Phillips  Brooks  .  .  . 
Labor  and  Capital  .  . 
Retrospect  of  Oratory, 

A 


Henry  S,  Pritchett,LL,D.  .255 

Andrew  Carnegie  .     .     .     .261 
Hon,  Joseph  H.  Choate   .     .  262 


Hon.  Philander  C,  Knox  .  270 
James  H.  Baker,  M,A. ,  LL.D.  272 
Hon.  Marcus  A.  Hanna  ,     .282 

Lorenzo  Sears 289 


//5 


■'<l...t. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


Abbott,  Lyman 
Angell,  James  B,     v 

Baker,  James  H. 
Beveridge,  Albert  J. 
Bok,  Edward  William 
Brewer,  David  J. 
Bruce,  Wallace 
Butler,  Nicholas  Murray 


Carnegie,  Andrew 
Carr,  Clark  E. 
Choate,  Joseph  H. 
Cleveland,  Grover 
Cockran,  W.  Bourke 
Cullom,  Shelby 

Davis,  Cushman  K. 
Depew,  Chauncey  M. 
Dewey,  George 
Draper,  Andrew  S. 

Eliot,  Charles  William 

Foraker,  J.  B. 
Frye,  William  P. 


158 
98 

277 

4 
172 
189 
191 
182 

261 
225 
262 
66 
102 
244 

108 

143 

125 

61 

163 

19 
89 


XIV 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


Gilder,  Richard  Watson 
Griggs,  John  William 

Hadley,  Arthur  Twining 

Hale,  Edward  Everett 

Hall,  G.  Stanley 

Hanna,  Marcus  A. 

Harrison,  Benjamin    . 

Hay,  John 

Higginson,  Thomas  Wentworth 

Hillis,  Newell  Dwight 

Hoar,  George  F. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  Jr.  . 

Howell,  Clark 

Howells,  William  Dean 

Hyde,  William  DeWitt 

Ireland,  John  .  , 

Jordan,  David  Starr    . 

Knox,  Philander  C.    . 

Lodge,  Henry  Cabot. 
Long,  John  D. 

Mabie,  Hamilton  Wright 
MacLaughlin,  Cresswell 
MacVeagh,  Franklin  . 
McKinley,  William     . 

Northrop,  Cyrus         .  • 

Parkhurst,  Charles  Henr\ 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


XV 


Peck,  George  R. 
Porter,  Horace 
Prather,  William  L.    . 
Pritchett,  Henry  S.     . 

Read,  Opie  P. 
Reed,  Thomas  Brackett 
Reid,  Whitelaw 
Robinson,  E.  G. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore 
Root,  Elihu     , 

Savage,  Minot  Judspn 
Schurman,  Jacob  Gould 
Schurz,  Carl     . 
Sears,  Lorenzo 
Seelye,  L.  Clark 
Smith,  Charles  Emor)' 
Stryker,  M.  W. 

Teller,  Henry  M. 
Thurston,  John  M.     . 
Thwing,  Charles  F.     . 
Tucker,  William  Jevvett 

Van  Dyke,,  Henry 

Wallace,  Lew 
Warner,  Charles  Dudley 
Washington,  Booker  T. 
Watterson,  Henry  L. 
Wilson,  Woodrow 


PAGE. 

92 
214 

33 
209 

46 

I 

105 

26 
206 
238 
289 
250 
185 
198 

222 
42 
16 
23 

140 

169 

187 

113 
160 


Cbe   Best 

American  Orations 
of   To-Day 

Americanism. 

Theodore  Roosevelt.  ' 

There  are  two  or  three  things  that  American- 
ism means.  In  the  first  place  it  means  that  we 
shall  give  to  our  fellow-man,jtb  our  fellow-citizen, 
the  same  wide  latitude  as  to  his  individual  beliefs 
that  we  demand  for  ourselves ;  that,  so  long  as  a 
man  does  his  work  as  a  man  should,  we  shall  not 
inquire,  we  shall  not  hold  for^or  against  him  hi^ 
civic  life,  his  method  of  paying  homage  to  his 
Maker.  That  is  an  important  lesson  for  all  of  us 
to  learn  everywhere,  but  it  is  doubly  important 
in  our  great  cities,  where  we  have  a  cosmopolitan 
population  of  such  various  origin,  belonging  to 
such  different  creeds,  and  where  the  problem  of 
getting  good  government  depends  in  its  essence  ^ 
upon  decent  men  standing  together  and  insisting 
that  before  we  take  into  account  the  ordinary 
political  questions,we  sha^I  as  r  pre-rjegjuisite,  have 
decency  and 'honesty  in  any  party, 

Tsio^v  f  .ranothe:  side  of  Americanism  ;  the  side 


2        Bj:^  AMMRLQAJ^  Q/?^  T/OAL^  QF  TO-DAY. 

of  the  work,  the  strife,  of  the  active  performance 
of  duty;  one  side  of  Americanism,  one  side  of 
democracy.  Our  democracy  means  that  we  have 
no  privileged  class,  no  class  that  is  ex,empt  from 
the  duties  or  deprived  of  the  privileges  that  are 
implied  in  the  words  "  American  citizenship." 
Now,  that  principle  has  two  sides  to  it,  itself,  for 
all  of  us  would  be  likely  to  dwell  continually  upon 
one  side,  that  all  have  equal  rights.  It  is  more 
important  that  we  should  dwell  on  the  other  side  ; 
that  is,  that  we  will  have  our  duties  and  that  the 
rights  cannot  be  kept  unless  the  duties  are  per- 
formed. 

The  law  of  American  life^of  course  it  is  the 
law  of  life  everywhere — the  law  of  American  life, 
peculiarly,  must  be  the  law  of  work  ;  not  the  law 
of  idleness ;  not  the  law  of  self-indulgence  or 
pleasure,  merely  the  law  of  work.  That  may  seem 
like  a  trite  saying.  Most  true  sayings  are  trite.  It 
is  a  disgrace  for  any  American  not  to  do  his  duty, 
but  it  is  a  double,  a  triple  disgrace  for  a  man  of 
means  or  a  man  of  education  not  to  do  his  duty. 
The  only  work  wo^th  doing  is  done  by  those  men, 
those  women,  wlio  learn  not  to  shrink  from  diffi- 
culties, but  to  face  them  and  overcome  them. /So 
that  Americanism  means  work,  means  eftort, 
means  the  constant  and  unending  strife  with  our 
conditions,  which  is  not  only  the  law  of  natur^if 
the  race  is  to  progress,  but  which  ipreali^  the  law 
of  the  highest  happiness  for  usuurselves\     . 


AMERICANISM.  3 

You  have  got  to  have  the  same  interest  in 
public  affairs  as  in  private  affairs  or  you  can  not 
keep  this  country  what  this  country  should  be. 
You  have  got  to  have  more  than  that — you  have 
got  to  have  courage.  I  don't  care  how  gogd^a 
m^n  is,  if  he  is  timid,  his  value  is  limited.^  The 
timid  will  not  amount  to  very  much  in  the  world. 
I  want  to  see  a  good  man  ready  to  smite  with  the 
sword.  I  want  to  see  him  able  to  hold  hrs  own 
in  active  life  against  the  force  of  evil.  Ij\vant  to 
seejiim  war  effectively  for  righteousness. 
[  Of  all  the  things  we  don't,  want  to  see  is  the 
tendency  to  divide  into  two  camps ;  on  the  one 
side  all  the  nice,  pleasant,  refined  people  of  high 
instincts,  but  no  capacity  to  do  work,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  men  who  have  not  got  nice  instincts 
at  all,  but  who  are  not  afraid.  When  you  get 
t'h'airrondition,  you  are  preparing  immeasurable 
disaster  for  the  nation.  You  have  got  to  com- 
bine decency  and  honesty  with  courage.  But 
even  that  is  not  enough,  for  I  don't  care  how 
brave,  how  honest  a  man  is,  if  he  is  a  natural-born 
fool  he  can  not  be  a  success.  He  has  got  to  have 
the  saving  grace  of  common  sense.  He  has  got 
to  have  the  right  kind  of  heart,  he  has  got  to  be 
upright  and  decent,  he  has  got  to  be  brave,  and 
he  has  got  to  have  common  sense.  He  has  got 
to  have  intelligence,  and  if  he  has  these,  then  he 
has  in  him  the  making  of  a  first-class  American 
citizen. 


4        BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

The  Puritan  Spirit. 

Hon.  Albert  J.  Beveridge. 

Used  by  permission. 

The  Puritan  spirit  is  constructive.  The  new- 
epoch  in  our  national  life  will  be  constructive. 
The  Puritan  spirit  never  criticized  except  to  pro- 
pose something  better.  It  felled  forests  only  to 
erect  buildings.  The  word  of  immortality  in 
Puritanism  is  the  master-word  "  create."  Build, 
build — this  is  the  message  of  Puritanism  to  the 
American  people  in  the  new  epoch  of  our  nation- 
al life. 

This  new  epoch  is  caused  by  our  new  possess- 
ions, the  new  responsibilities  they  place  upon  us 
and  the  new  powers  they  call  into  action.  It  is 
unavailing  to  argue  that  the  recent  change 
wrought  on  the  map  of  the  world  ought  never  to 
have  been  made.  The  change  has  occurred. 
The  Philippines  are  ours.  Hawaii  is  ours.  The 
Pacific  is  the  American  ocean.  The  Canal  will 
be  ours.  Look  at  your  map,  and  you  will  see 
that  the  Gulf  is,  in  practical  effect,  an  American 
lake.  Our  flag  floats  over  the  Antilles  and  has 
not  yet  been  lowered  even  to  the  half-mast ;  and 
when  the  Stars  and  Stripes  is  hauled  down  in 
Cuba,  let  it  hang  awhile  at  half-mast,  in  mourning 
for  the  people  of  Cuba  abandoned  and  the  duty 
of  the  United  States  deserted.     These  are  epo- 


THE  PURITAN  SPIRIT.  5 

chal  facts.  The  future  of  the  world  is  in  our 
hands.     This  is  not  enthusiasm  ;  it  is  geography. 

The  constructive  and  righteous  Puritan  spirit 
must  dominate  this  immense  situation.  We 
ought  not  to  be  merely  imitative,  any  more 
than  we  ought  to  be  corrupt.  New  circumstan- 
ces require  new  laws.  It  is  not  against  these 
new  laws  that  they  are  different  in  method,  and 
even  principle,  from  the  old  laws.  New  laws 
and  new  methods  are  not  bad  just  because  they 
are  new.  The  important  thing  is  that  they  shall 
fit  the  case.  The  Puritan  was  practical.  If  old 
forms  and  ancient  principles  did  not  apply  to 
actual  conditions,  he  developed  principles  and 
devised  forms  that  did.  Thus  in  our  new  epoch 
it  is  not  helpful  to  complain  of  unalterable  facts 
and  declare  that  we  cannot  deal  with  them  be- 
cause the  old  methods  do  not  fit  them.  There  is 
nothing  so  narrow  as  the  egotism  of  precedent. 

Let  us  be  specific.  The  Philippine  people  are 
to  be  governed.  We  can  govern  them  best  by 
considering  them  as  they  are.  We  cannot  deal 
with  them  as  we  would  with  New  Englanders. 
We  must  not  ignore  differences  of  location,  con- 
dition, climate,  race.  With  all  our  new  domin- 
ions, we  must  deal  as  facts  demand.  A  common 
code  for  the  Malay  Archipelago,  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  and  our  possessions  in  the  Gulf,  and  that 
code  the  method  devised  for  our  American 
peopled    territories,  would    be  unsatisfactory  to 


O        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

them  and  to  us.  To  govern  them  by  a  method 
not  appropriate  to  them,  merely  because  we 
have  used  such  methods  heretofore,  is  not  Puri- 
tan but  Chinese  reasoning.  We  must  have  the 
adaptability  of  common  sense.  The  Puritan  was 
the  greatest  maker  of  precedents  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  And  to  make  a  precedent  when  need- 
ed is  as  noble  as  to  follow  a  precedent  when 
proper.  Construction  is  the  ofifice  of  our  epoch, 
and  therefore  we  invoke  the  creative  spirit  of  the 
Puritan. 

Our  Constitution  does  not  prohibit  this.  It 
says  :  ''  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of, 
and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  re- 
specting territory  and  other  property  belonging 
to  the  United  States."  Even  if  this  present 
development  were  not  dreamed  of  when  the  Con- 
stitution was  framed,  that  ordinance  of  national 
life  still  authorizes  it.  For  the  Constitution 
grows  as  the  people  grow.  Otherwise,  the 
people  would  have  to  stop  growing  or  the 
Constitution  would  have  to  be  destroyed. 
N.either  is  necessary.  The  Constitution  is  not  a 
contract  of  purchase  and  sale,  or  a  deed,  or  a  life 
insurance  policy.  It  is  an  ordinance  of  national 
life.  Let  us  thank  God  for  a  Hamilton  and  a 
Marshall.  The  Constitution  was  made  for  the 
American  people,  not  the  American  people  for 
the  Constitution.  The  Constitution  does  not 
give  immortality  to  the  nation ;  the  nation  gives 


THE  PURITAN  SPIRIT,  7 

immortality  to  the  Constitution.  The  saying 
that  "  Our  Constitution  follows  the  flag,"  is 
only  partly  true.  The  whole  truth  is  this :  Our 
institutions  follow  the  flag.  Our  Constitution  is 
only  one  of  our  institutions.  Our  Constitution 
did  not  give  us  our  institutions  ;  our  institutions 
gave  us  our  Constitution.  Our  institutions 
follow  the  flag — the  simplest  first,  later  the  more 
complex,  and  finally,  when  the  way  is  prepared, 
our  noblest  institution,  the  American  Constitu- 
tion, follows  the  flag.  Free  schools,  equal  laws, 
impartial  justice,  social  order,  and  at  last,  when 
these  have  done  their  work  and  our  wards  are 
ready  to  understand  and  rightly  use  it,  our  Con- 
stitution, which  is  our  method  of  government, 
follows  the  flag.  "  First  the  blade,  then  the  ear, 
then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear."  Our  flag,  our 
institutions,  our  Constitution.  The  American 
Consitution  follows  the  flag  when  the  American 
people  deem  it  best ;  and  the  American  people 
may  be  trusted. 

The  Puritan  insisted  upon  settling  his  own 
questions  in  his  own  way,  and  he  knew  what  his 
own  questions  were.  He  had  the  logic  of  geog- 
raphy, and  we,  his  children,  must  have  it  too. 
Any  canal  which  joins  the  American  Pacific  to 
the  American  Gulf  must,  therefore,  be  itself 
American.  The  Antilles  are  the  major  promise  ; 
the  Philippines  and  Hawaiis  are  the  minor  prom- 
ise ;   all  Central   American  and  Isthmian  canals 


8        BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

finish  that  syllogism.  The  Puritan  had  that 
independence  which  consists  in  self-dependence 
in  his  own  affairs.  Apply  this  to  present  facts. 
The  Philippine  question  is  an  American  ques- 
tion ;  the  American  nation  must  work  it  out ;  we 
cannot  permit  a  concert  of  Powers  in  solving  it. 
The  Cuban  question  is  an  American  question  ; 
the  American  nation  must  work  it  out ;  we  can- 
not permit  a  concert  of  Powers  in  solving  it. 
All  Atlantic  and  Pacific  canals  and  the  future  of 
Central  America,  so  far  as  affected  thereby,  are 
American  questions  ;  we  cannot  permit  a  concert 
of  Powers  in  solving  them.  This  sentiment  is 
not  anti-foreign  ;  it  is  only  pro-American.  Inter- 
national respect  is  based  on  respective  national 
strength  as  well  as  on  justice.  Remember  that 
the  figure  of  Justice  always  bears  a  sword.  Ge- 
ography and  interest,  not  altruism,  are  the  basis 
of  fundamental  national  rights. 

All  this  means  construction,  and  construction 
involves  the  probability  of  occasional  mistakes. 
But  this  will  not  give  us  pause.  The  Puritan 
spirit  was  great  enough  to  risk  the  making  of 
mistakes.  Progress  is  built  on  mistakes.  The 
most  men  do  is  imperfect,  but  the  best  remains. 
The  sovereign  duty  is  to  do.  The  only  irre- 
trievable mistake  is  to  do  nothing.  Let  us  have 
the  courage  of  effort,  even  though  we  err. 

But  the  Puritan  was  conservative  as  well  as 
constructive.     He  considered  the  things  that  are, 


THE  PURITAN  SPIRIT.  9 

how  he  might  safely  build  upon  them.  He  was 
never  rash.  His  courage  was  intelligent.  Con- 
servatism and  construction  are  what  we  need. 
Do-nothing  statesmanship  is  fatal ;  slap-dash 
statesmanship  is  fatal,  too.  Both  are  non-Puritan 
and  un-American.  Constructive  conservatism, 
cautious  daring,  active  moderation,  a  progress 
that  is  sane,  these  are  the  qualities  we  must  have 
in  the  new  epoch  in  our  national  life ;  and  these 
are  the  qualities  which,  combined,  men  call  the 
Puritan  spirit. 

In  carrying  out  this  programme  of  construction 
the  stern  spirit  of  Puritan  honesty  must  rule. 
Not  exploitation,  but  development ;  not  waste, 
but  growth.  Develop,  build,  cultivate,  create. 
No  robbing,  no  looting,  no  piracies  in  the  name 
of  commerce !  This  epoch  must  go  down  to 
history  as  the  noblest  effort  of  Puritan  construct- 
iveness.  We  can  not  run  away  from  these 
tasks.  Where  the  Puritan  landed  he  remained. 
The  Puritan  spirit  has  never  known  retreat.  We 
will  not  be  cowards,  any  more  than  we  will  be 
robbers. 

Let  no  man  fear  because  the  Constitution  gives 
the  American  people  a  free  hand  to  do  this 
giant's  work.  Let  no  man  fear  because  our 
treaties  and  our  foreign  relations  shall  be  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  American  people  shall  have  a 
clean  future  in  which  to  do  this  work.  The 
motto  of  Americanism  henceforth    must  be :   A 


lO      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

clean  future  and  a  free  hand.  Let  us  trust  pos- 
terity as  much  as  we  revere  ancestry.  Other- 
wise, we  discredit  both.  America  is  to-day  the 
young  man  of  the  nations,  eager  for  his  work, 
and  with  that  work  waiting  to  be  done.  We  will 
not  tie  his  hands.  We  will  not  bind  his  future. 
Mr.  President,  I  propose  this  sentiment :  ''  Amer- 
ica, the  young  man  of  the  Nations,  the  proudest 
development  of  the  Puritan  spirit.  Give  him  a 
clean  future  and  a  free  hand,  and  he  will  make  of 
this  new  epoch  the  beginning  of  mankind's 
golden  age." 


Our  Recent  Diplomacy. 

^  .  Hon.  John  Hay. 

Abridged.     Used  by  permission. 

There  was  a  time  when  diplomacy  was  a 
science  of  intrigue  and  falsehood,  of  traps  and 
mines  and  countermines.  The  word  "  Machia- 
velic  "  has  become  an  adjective  in  our  common 
speech,  signifying  fraudulent  craft  and  guile;  but 
Machiavel  was  as  honest  a  man  as  his  time  justi- 
fied or  required.  The  King  of  Spain  wrote  to 
the  King  of  France  after  the  massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew  congratulating  him  upon  the 
splendid  dissimulation  with  which  that  stroke  of 
policy  had  been  accomplished.  In  the  last  gen- 
eration it  was  thought  a  remarkable  advance  in 


OUR  RECENT  DIPLOMACY.  II 

straightforward  diplomacy  when  Prince  Bismarck 
recognized  the  advantage-  of  telling  the  truth, 
even  at  the  risk  of  misleading  his  adversary. 
We  have  generally  told  squarely  what  we  wanted, 
announced  early  in  negotiation  what  we  were 
willing  to  give,  and  allowed  the  other  side  to 
accept  or  reject  our  terms.  We  have  been  met 
by  the  representatives  of  other  powers  in  the 
same  spirit  of  frankness  and  sincerity.  There  is 
nothing  like  straightforwardness  to  beget  its  like. 

The  comparative  simplicity  of  our  diplomatic 
methods  would  be  a  matter  of  necessity  if  it 
were  not  of  choice.  Secret  treaties,  reserved 
clauses,  private  understandings,  are  impossible 
to  us.  No  treaty  has  any  validity  until  ratified 
by  the  Senate ;  many  require  the  action  of  both 
Houses  of  Congress  to  be  carried  into^  effect. 
They  must,  therefore,  be  in  harmony  with  public 
opinion.  The  Executive  could  not  change  this 
system,  even  if  he  should  ever  desire  to.  It 
must  be  accepted,  with  all  its  difficulties  and  all 
its  advantages  ;  and  it  has  been  approved  by  the 
experience  of  a  hundred  years. 

As  to  the  measure  of  success  which  our  recent 
diplomacy  has  met  with,  it  is  difficult,  if  not  im- 
possible, for  me  to  speak.  There  are  two  impor- 
tant lines  of  human  endeavor  in  which  men  are 
forbidden  even  to  allude  to  their  success — affairs 
of  the  heart  and  diplomatic  affairs.  In  doing  so, 
one  not  only  commits  a  vulgarity  which    tran- 


12      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

scends  all  question  of  taste,  but  makes  all  future 
success  impossible.  For  this  reason,  the  diploma- 
tic representatives  of  the  Government  must  fre- 
quently suffer  in  silence  the  most  outrageous 
imputations  upon  their  patriotism,  their  intelli- 
gence, and  their  common  honesty.  To  justify 
themselves  before  the  public,  they  would  some- 
times have  to  place  in  jeopardy  the  interests  of 
the  nation.  They  must  constantly  adopt  for 
themselves  the  motto  of  the  French  revolutionist, 
"  Let  my  name  wither,  rather  than  my  country 
be  injured." 

But  if  we  are  not  permitted  to  boast  of  what 
we  have  done,  we  can  at  least  say  a  word  about 
what  we  have  tried  to  do,  and  the  principles 
which  have  guided  our  action.  The  briefest  ex- 
pression of  our  rule  of  conduct  is,  perhaps,  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  Golden  Rule.  With 
this  simple  chart  we  can  hardly  go  far  wrong. 

I  think  I  may  say  that  our  sister  republics  to 
the  south  of  us  are  perfectly  convinced  of  the 
sincerity  of  our  attitude.  They  know  we  desire 
the  prosperity  of  each  of  them,  and  peace  and 
harmony  among  them.  We  no  more  want  their 
territory  than  we  covet  the  mountains  of  the 
moon.  We  are  grieved  and  distressed  when 
there  are  differences  among  them,  but  even  then 
we  should  never  think  of  trying  to  compose  any 
of  those  differences  unless  by  the  request  of  both 
parties  to  it.      Not  even  our  earnest  desire  for 


OUR  RECENT  DIPLOMACY.  1 3 

peace  among  them  will  lead  us  to  any  action 
which  might  offend  their  national  dignity  or 
their  just  sense  of  independence.  We  owe  them 
all  the  consideration  which  we  claim  for  ourselves. 
To  critics  in  various  climates  who  have  other 
views  of  our  purposes  we  can  only  wish  fuller 
information  and  more  quiet  consciences. 

As  to  what  we  have  tried  to  do — what  we  are 
still  trying  to  do — in  the  general  field  of  diplo- 
macy, there  is  no  reason  for  doubt  on  the  one 
hand  or  reticence  on  the  other.  President  Mc- 
Kinley  in  his  messages  during  the  last  four  years 
has  made  the  subject  perfectly  clear.  We  have 
striven,  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  Washington, 
to  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  all  powers, 
but  not  to  take  part  in  the  formation  of  groups 
or  combinations  among  them.  A  position  of 
complete  independence  is  not  incompatible  with 
relations  involving  not  friendship  alone,  but  con- 
current action  as  well  in  important  emergencies. 
We  have  kept  always  in  view  the  fact  that  we 
are  preeminently  a  peace-loving  people ;  that 
our  normal  activities  are  in  the  direction  of 
trade  and  commerce  ;  that  the  vast  development 
of  our  industries  imperatively  demands  that  we 
shall  not  only  retain  and  confirm  our  hold  on 
our  present  markets,  but  seek  constantly,  by  all 
honorable  means,  to  extend  our  commercial  in- 
terests in  every  practicable  direction.  It  is  for 
this   reason  we  have  negotiated  the  treaties  of 


14      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

reciprocity  which  now  await  the  action  of  the 
Senate  ;  all  of  them  conceived  in  the  traditional 
American  spirit  of  protection  to  our  own  indus- 
tries, and  yet  mutually  advantageous  to  ourselves 
and  our  neighbors.  In  the  same  spirit  we  have 
sought,  successfully,  to  induce  all  the  great 
powers  to  unite  in  a  recognition  of  the  general 
principle  of  equality  of  commercial  access  and 
opportunity  in  the  markets  of  the  Orient.  We 
believe  that  *'a  fair  field  and  no  favor"  is  all  we 
require ;  and  with  less  than  that  we  can  not  be 
satisfied.  If  we  accept  the  assurances  we  have  re- 
ceived as  honest  and  genuine,  as  I  certainly  do, 
that  equality  will  not  be  denied  us  ;  and  the  re- 
sult may  safely  be  left  to  American  genius  and 
energy. 

We  consider  our  interests  in  the  Pacific  Ocean 
as  great  now  as  those  of  any  other  power,  and 
destined  to  indefinite  development.  We  have 
opened  our  doors  to  the  people  of  Hawaii ;  we 
have  accepted  the  responsibility  of  the  Philip- 
pines which  Providence  imposed  upon  us;  we 
have  put  an  end  to  the  embarrassing  con- 
dominium in  which  we  were  involved  in  Samoa, 
and  while  abandoning  none  of  our  commercial 
rights  in  the  entire  group,  we  have  established 
our  flag  and  our  authority  in  Tutuila,  which 
gives  us  the  finest  harbor  in  the  South  Seas. 
Next  in  order  will  come  a  Pacific  cable,  and  an 
Isthmian  canal   for  the   use  of  all  well-disposed 


OUR  RECENT  DIPLOMACY,  I  5 

peoples,  but  under  exclusive  ownership  and 
American  control — of  both  of  which  great  enter- 
prises President  McKinley  and  President  Roose- 
velt have  been  the  energetic  and  consistent 
champions. 

Sure  as  we  are  of  our  rights  in  these  matters, 
convinced  as  we  are  of  the  authenticity  of  the 
vision  which  has  led  us  thus  far  and  still  beckons 
us  forward,  I  can  yet  assure  you  that  so  long  as 
the  administration  of  your  affairs  remains  in 
hands  as  strong  and  skillful  as  those  to  which 
they  have  been  and  are  now  confided,  there  will 
be  no  more  surrender  of  our  rights  than  there 
will  be  violation  of  the  rights  of  others.  The 
President,  to  whom  you  have  given  your  invalu- 
able trust  and  confidence,  like  his  now  immortal 
predecessor,  is  as  incapable  of  bullying  a  strong 
power  as  he  is  of  wronging  a  weak  one.  He 
feels  and  knows — for  has  he  not  tested  it,  in  the 
currents  of  the  heady  fight,  as  well  as  in  the  toil- 
some work  of  administration  ? — that  the  nation 
over  whose  destinies  he  presides  has  a  giant's 
strength  in  the  works  of  war,  as  in  the  works  of 
peace.  But  that  consciousness  of  strength  brings 
with  it  no  temptation  to  do  injury  to  any  power 
on  earth,  the  proudest  or  the  humblest.  We 
frankly  confess  we  seek  the  friendship  of  all  the 
powers ;  we  want  to  trade  with  all  peoples ;  we 
are  conscious  of  resources  that  will  make  our 
commerce  a  source  of  advantage  to  them  and  of 


1 6      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

profit  to  ourselves.  But  no  wantonness  of  strength 
will  ever  induce  us  to  drive  a  hard  bargain  with 
another  nation  because  it  is  weak,  nor  will  any 
fear  of  ignoble  criticism  tempt  us  to  insult  or 
defy  a  great  power  because  it  is  strong,  or  even 
because  it  is  friendly. 

The  attitude  of  our  diplomacy  may  be  indi- 
cated in  a  text  of  Scripture  which  Franklin — the 
first  and  greatest  of  our  diplomats — tells  us 
passed  through  his  mind  when  he  was  presented 
at  the  Court  of  Versailles.  It  was  a  text  his 
father  used  to  quote  to  him  in  the  old  candle 
shop  in  Boston,  when  he  was  a  boy :  **  Seest  thou 
a  man  diligent  in  his  business,  he  shall  stand  be- 
fore kings."  Let  us  be  diligent  in  our  business 
and  we  shall  stand — stand,  you  see,  not  crawl, 
nor  swagger — stand,  as  a  friend  and  equal,  asking 
nothing,  putting  up  with  nothing  but  what  is 
right  and  just,  among  oiw:  peers,  in  the  great 
democracy  of  nations.  •' 


The  Value  of  Judgment. 

Charles  F.  Thwing,  D.D. 

President  of  Western  Reserve  University.    Arranged  for 
this  book  by  the  author. 

Judgment  is  the  application  of  the  trained 
intellect  to  human  lives.  It  is  the  power  to  see, 
to  appreciate,  and  to  use  the  truth  in  improving 
the  condition  of  mankind.     This  element  is,  in 


THE  VALUE   OF  JUDGMENT.  1 7 

my  thinking,  the  great  one  contributed  by  the 
college  graduate  to  human  life.  This  judgment 
embodies  largeness  and  a  proper  estimate  of 
values,  the  power  to  see  units  and  out  of  units 
to  construct  unities.  It  embraces  every  scientific 
application  of  observation  and  every  philosophi- 
cal application  of  inference.  It  is  a  judgment 
deliberate  and  deliberative,  sane,  large,  as  remote 
from  being  influenced  by  the  idols  of  the  market 
place,  of  the  forum  and  of  the  voting  booth 
as  it  is  remote  from  the  smauness  of  dilet- 
tanteism.  It  works  with  accuracy  of  instru- 
ments of  precision.  It  moves  in  inductions 
that  are  no  less  than  transcendental.  It  unites 
faith  and  rationalism,  making  faith  reasonable 
and  rationalism  ethical.  It  extracts  the  truth 
of  optimism  without  relieving  us  of  the  sense  of 
responsibility  and  it  draws  out  the  truth  of 
pessimism  without  urging  on  to  the  pessimist*s 
fate.  It  is  a  judgment  which  helps  one  to 
see  the  principal  as  principal  and  the  subor- 
dinate as  subordinate.  It  is  a  judgment  which 
gives  contentment  and  inspiration;  humility  and 
the  sense  of  strength.  It  is  a  judgment  which 
results  in  adjustment,  making  one  a  citizen  of 
the  world  without  making  one  less  a  patriot. 
It  is  a  judgment,  too,  which  means  self-under- 
standing and  the  understanding  of  all.  It  is 
a  judgment  primarily  intellectual  and  yet  it  is 
not    simply  intellectual.      It    is  a  judgment  in 


1 8      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

which  the  emotions  have  a  proper  play  and 
place  and  yet  it  is  not  simply  emotional.  It 
is  a  judgment  resulting  in  action,  yet  it  is  some- 
thing more  by  far  than  mere  volition.  It  is  a 
judgment  in  which  conscience  has  a  supreme 
part,  but  it  represents  more  than  a  dictate  of 
conscience  narrowly  interpreted.  Such  a  judg- 
ment a  college  graduate  above  other  members 
of  the  community  is  fitted  to  offer  and  to  use. 
Each  study  of  a  college  makes  an  offering  to 
its  enrichment.  Language  gives  to  it  discrimi- 
nation, freedom  and  amplitude,  science  gives  to 
it  the  sense  of  order  and  a  respect  for  law, 
philosophy  gives  to  it  self-confidence,  breadth 
of  vision,  toleration.  The  old  college  trained 
men  of  judgment.  Sometimes  we  ask  the  differ- 
ence between  the  college  man  of  to-day  and 
the  college  man  of  fifty  years  ago.  The  grad- 
uate of  to-day  is  possessed  of  scholarship  more 
ample,  more  varied,  of  manners  more  gracious, 
but  it  is  an  open  question  whether  the  old 
college  did  not  train  men  in  judgment  quite 
as  efficiently  as  the  modern  college.  It,  this 
power  of  judgment,  is  more  useful  than  the 
application  of  beauty.  It  is  the  basis  of  social 
life  and  good  manners.  It  is  the  soul  of  con- 
duct. It  is  the  crown  of  intellectual  manhood 
and  womanhood.  It  is  an  essential  element  in 
individual  character.  It  is  the  queen  in  civilized 
society. 


TRUSTS.  19 


Trusts. 

Hon.    J.  B.   FORAKER. 

Abridged.     Contributed  by  the  author. 

Trusts  did  not  originate  here,  as  a  result  of 
the  tariff,  but  in  England  and  European  countries 
where  they  have  free  trade,  and  where  they  had 
trusts  of  every  character  long  before  they  became 
common  in  America,  and  where  to-day  they  are 
more  numerous  than  they  are  in  the  United 
States.  In  the  next  place,  what  are  to-day  called 
trusts  are  generally  nothing  more  than  large  cor- 
porations engaged,  as  a  rule,  in  perfectly  legiti- 
mate business,  and  as  such  they  are  but  a  natural 
evolution  of  modern  industrial  conditions.  They 
exist  because  there  is  a  demand  for  them  ;  not  a 
political,  but  a  business  demand. 

We  have  reached  the  point  in  our  industrial 
and  commercial  development  where  we  are  able 
to  supply  all  our  home  markets  and  have  a  large 
surplus  besides.  This  surplus  must  be  sold  ;  if 
not  at  home,  then  abroad.  If  it  can  not  be  sold 
it  will  not  long  be  produced.  If  not  produced, 
then  not  only  must  our  output  be  curtailed,  but 
the  pay-roll  must  be  cut  down.  If  the  pay-roll  is 
cut  down,  not  only  the  wage-worker  suffers,  but 
the  home  market  is  correspondingly  restricted  and 
the  farmer  suffers  a  consequent  falling  off  in  the 


20      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

demand  for  his  products.  There  is  trouble  all 
along  the  line. 

Considerations  of  this  character  show  that  we 
must  not  restrict  production,  but  must  find  addi- 
tional markets.  To  find  additional  markets  means 
that  we  must  successfully  compete  with  foreign 
countries.  To  do  that  we  must  manufacture  at 
less  cost,  not  only  that  we  may  undersell,  but  that 
we  may  have  a  margin  for  the  transportation  and 
exploitation  of  our  goods  and  wares. 

To  do  this  we  must  economize.  There  are 
many  ways  to  do  that.  One  is  to  reduce  wages, 
and  thus  lessen  the  cost  of  manufacture.  A 
poor  method  that,  and  one  we  are  unalterably 
opposed  to. 

Another  way  to  economize  is  by  consolidation. 
This  has  objectionable  features,  but  they  are  far 
less  objectionable  than  the  reduction  of  wages. 

By  consolidating  many  establishments  into  one 
you  make  a  large  capital  and  create  a  concentrated 
power  of  money,  which,  in  the  hands  of  unscru- 
pulous men,  may  be  used  to  the  injury  of  the 
public  welfare.  Because  there  may  be  this  im- 
proper use  it  is  appropriate  to  so  legislate  as  to 
prevent  it,  just  as  we  legislate  to  prevent  too 
great  a  speed  in  the  running  of  railroad  trains, 
street  cars,  and  automobiles,  or  to  prevent  the 
great  dangers  to  property  and  life  that  attend 
the  use  of  electric  current,  gunpowder  and  dyna- 
mite ;  but,  as  no  one  would  think  of  prohibiting 


TRUSTS.  21 

or  destroying  railroads,  or  street  cars,  or  auto- 
mobiles, or  electric  light  and  power  plants,  or  gun 
powder  or  dynamite,  by  legislation,  so  too,  no  one 
who  has  any  sense  would  think  of  so  legislating 
as  to  prohibit  or  destroy  large  combinations  of 
capital  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  legitimate 
enterprises. 

They  have  become  a  feature  of  modern  business 
conditions  the  world  over,  and  in  consequence, 
they  are  a  special  necessity  here,  in  the  United 
States,  where  we  are  compelled  to  invade  and 
capture  foreign  markets  or  slacken  the  pace  at 
which  we  are  going  in  the  employment  of  labor 
and  the  development  of  our  resources.  We  to- 
day have  in  our  favor  the  largest  balance  of  trade 
ever  known  since  the  beginning  of  history.  We 
have  in  our  vaults  the  largest  amount  of  gold 
ever  possessed  by  any  government  or  any  people. 
We  stand  at  the  head  of  all  nations  in  wealth 
and  credit. 

It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  with  such  ad- 
vantages there  did  not  at  the  same  time  come 
some  disadvantages.  All  great  evolutions  and 
changes  are  likely  to  work  some  injury  as  well  as 
good.  So  it  is  with  the  changes  now  being 
wrought.  Consolidation  involves  more  or  less  of 
displacement  and  rearrangement.  There  must 
be  more  or  less  change  of  occupation  for  those 
who  are  employed,  and  more  or  less  of  abandon- 
ment  of  what  has  been  in  use  because  of   the 


22      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

substitution  of  something  better ;  but  this  is 
only  history  repeating  itself.  The  cotton  gin, 
the  sewing  machine,  the  typewriter,  the  use  of 
steam  and  the  electric  current,  all  alike  worked 
similar  results ;  but  who  would  retrace  these 
steps  of  progress  on  that  account  ? 

It  has  been  only  a  few  years,  since  to  travel 
from  the  Mississippi  to  New  York  involved  the 
use  of  separate  lines  of  railroad,  each  under  a 
different  management,  with  repeated  change  of 
cars  and  other  similar  inconveniences.  That 
was  the  day  of  small  things,  when  we  had  no 
giant  corporations  with  continuous  lines  span- 
ning the  continent ;  but  who  would  go  back  to 
that  day  and  that  condition  ? 

It  has  been  one  of  the  marvels  of  this  marvel- 
ous age  how,  by  the  consolidation  of  one  line 
after  another,  great  systems  of  railroads  have 
been  formed  and  put  into  successful  operation, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  comforts  of  travel  and 
facilities  for  freight  transportation  have  been 
constantly  and  voluntarily  increased,  while  the 
charges  therefor  have  been  as  constantly  dimin- 
ished, until  we  have  at  the  hands  of  these  great 
corporations  not  that  tyranny,  oppression  and 
deprivation  of  liberty,  of  which  we  hear  so  much, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  the  best,  the  most  accom- 
modating and  the  cheapest  service  to  be  found 
anywhere  in  the  civilized  world. 

There  are  to-day  more  railroads  in  this  country 


THE  NEW  MOVEMENT  IN  HUMANITY,       23 

than  ever  before.  More  money  is  invested  in 
them  than  ever  before.  They  employ  more 
men  than  ever  before ;  they  pay  higher  wages 
than  ever  before ;  and  at  the  same  time  they 
charge  less  for  the  services  they  render  to  the 
public  than  ever  before. 

The  net  aggregate  result  has  been  one  of  great 
general  benefit ;  and  as  it  is  and  has  been  with  the 
railroads  so  too  it  is,  and  will  be,  with  these 
great  industrial  combinations. 

They  are  born  of  our  conditions.  They  have 
come  to  meet  imperative  requirements.  They 
have  been  attended  by  many  abuses.  There 
will  doubtless  be  many  more  ;  but  time,  exper- 
ience, sound  business  judgment,  and  healthy 
public  sentiment  will  correct  most  of  them. 
There  Will  be  but  little  left  for  the  law  to  do,  and 
that  little  will  not  be  difficult. 


The  New  Movement  In  Humanity. 

William  Jewett  Tucker,  L  L.D. 
President  of  Dartmouth  College.    Contributed  by  the  author. 

At  such  a  time  as  this  who  can  over-estimate 
the  joy,  not  only  of  the  active,  but  also  of  the 
reflective  life  ?     To  live  consciously,  intelligently. 


24     BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  F. 

expectantly,  with  the  seeing  eye,  the  open  heart, 
the  loyal  faith, — this  is  life  indeed.  We  are 
not 

"  Wandering  between  two  worlds,  one  dead. 
The  other  powerless  to  be  born." 

The  world  we  are  leaving  behind  us  is  still  vital 
with  the  divine  impulse.  The  world  which  lies 
about  us  is  beginning  to  reveal  and  execute  the 
larger  plans  of  God.  No,  we  are  not  "wander- 
ing," nor  simply  under  directed  motion.  The 
significance  of  our  time  is  that  in  and  through  it 
there  is  a  change  of  movement.  It  is  as  if  one 
could  now  see  the  workings  of  the  unseen  power 
shifting  the  forces  that  make  history,  that  shape 
the  destiny  of  men  and  nations.  Such,  in  part, 
is  the  advantage  of  the  intellectual  life  in  an  age 
of  transition. 

But  deeper  than  the  knowledge  we  may  gain 
at  such  a  time  of  the  transfer  or  exchange  of 
ruling  principles  and  ideas  is  the  satisfaction  of 
watching  the  application  of  the  new  ideas  to  the 
new  needs  of  the  world.  We  are  apt  to  place 
too  much  dependence  upon  men  in  times  of  need. 
We  say  that  the  emergency  calls  for  the  man, 
and  must  wait  his  coming.  Not  so.  It  is  the 
sufBcient  idea  which  delivers  and  saves.  It  is 
great  working  ideas  which  make  great  men  pos- 
sible, which  may  make  them  unnecessary. 
What  man  is  the  equivalent  of  the  new  conception 


THE  NE  W  MO  VEMENT  IN  HUMANITY.        2  5 

of  humanity  which  is  now  at  work  reconstructing 
society,  governments,  the  church  ? 

And  as  one  extends  his  view,  watching  the 
application  of  new  ideas  to  the  needs  of  the 
world,  he  may  see  the  somewhat  singular  phe- 
nomenon of  the  old  serving  under  the  new.  We 
are  impressed  with  the  transfer  of  working 
power  from  liberty  to  unity.  But  the  change  is 
after  all  local,  confined  as  yet  to  the  few  advanced 
peoples.  There  are  those  for  whom  liberty  has 
not  yet  wrought  her  necessary  work.  How  shall 
this  be  done  ?  As  it  has  been  done  ?  Not  at  all. 
No  other  nation  can  repeat  the  experience  of  the 
Republic.  The  days  of  solitary  struggle  for 
liberty  are  over.  The  nation  which  fights  to-day 
for  freedom  fights  in  the  fellowship  of  the  nations 
which  are  free.  The  spirit  of  unity  is  abroad, 
everywhere  supporting,  guiding,  cheering  the  be- 
lated spirit  of  liberty. 

But  why  should  one  at  such  a  time  content 
himself,  in  the  joy  of  the  intellectual  life,  with  the 
reflective,  or  even,  expectant  attitude  ?  In  this 
movement  from  liberty  to  unity,  who  would  not 
surrender  himself  to  it,  and  become  a  part  of  it  ? 
The  appeal  of  liberty  was  to  men  of  action.  The 
appeal  of  unity  is  to  men  of  thought.  The  figure 
of  the  scholar  on  the  field  of  battle  was  always 
inspiring,  but  he  was  seldom  a  leader  there.  In 
the  new  fields  of  service  the  scholar  leads  the 
way.     The  spirit  of  unity  cannot  be  served  as  the 


26      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

spirit  of  liberty  was  served,  except  in  regard  to  a 
like  consecration.  The  new  kingdom  of  heaven 
may  not  suffer  violence  ;  the  violent  will  not  take 
it  by  force.  The  social  unity  must  come  through 
patient  study,  wise  invention,  identification  with 
men,  sympathy,  and  sacrifice  ;  force  will  have  no 
part  in  its  accomplishment. 

The  immediate  future  in  the  service  of  human- 
ity belongs  to  those  who  are  best  able  to  discern 
its  real  wants,  who  feel  most  its  deepest  yearn- 
ings, and  who,  above  all,  believe  sublimely  in 
that  conception  of  humanity  which  can  alone 
satisfy  and  help.  The  path  of  human  progress 
is  marked  by  the  succession  of  saving  principles 
and  ideas,  and  each  generation  treads  that  path 
with  certain  step,  as  it  hails  its  own  idea,  then 
summons  its  chosen  ones,  and  bids  them  guard 
and  serve  it  in  loyalty  and  faith. 


Education  for  Life. 

MiNOT  JuDSON  Savage,  D.D. 
Abridged.     Contributed  by  the  author. 

There  is  a  very  important  distinction  between 
education  and  learning.  A  great  many  people 
who  know  something  think  they  are  educated. 
They  may  be;  but,  because  they  know  it,  it  does 


EDUCATION  FOR  LIFE.  2/ 

not  necessarily  follow  that  they  are  educated, 
and  this  no  matter  what  they  know  or  how 
much.  For  there  is  a  radical  distinction  between 
education  and  learning. 

A  man  is  educated  who  is  trained  in  all  his 
faculties  and  powers  to  the  best,  who  has  become 
master  of  himself  and  of  his  conditions.  Now 
learning  may  or  may  not  have  much  to  do  with 
that.  Lincoln  was  not  a  learned  man.  He  knew 
no  language  but  his  own.  He  had  a  very  slight 
acquaintance  with  the  world's  literature,  only  a 
general  outline  knowledge  of  the  world's  history. 
He  had  never  studied  music.  Probably  he  had 
carried  mathematics  only  a  very  little  way.  Art 
— all  these  things  were  practically  closed  avenues 
to  him.  But  would  anybody  to-day  think  of 
speaking  of  Lincoln  as  uneducated? 

Washington  was  not  a  learned  man.  It  has 
been  discovered  by  some  of  his  recent  biograph- 
ers, who  are  anxious  lest  we  should  over-idealize 
him,  and  who  are  taking  pains,  therefore,  to  tell 
us  about  the  real  George  Washington,  that  he 
did  not  even  know  how  to  spell.  Many  of  his 
latest  State  papers  contained  errors  in  orthog- 
raphy that  a  small  boy  possibly  might  escape. 
He  knew  no  language  but  his  own.  All  the 
great  avenues  of  the  world's  investigation,  liter- 
rary,  scientific,  artistic,  he  had  not  entered.  But 
was  Washington  an  uneducated  man  ? 

Turn  now  the  other  side  for  a  moment,  and 


2S      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

see,  so  that  the  matter  may  become  perfectly 
clear.  A  man  may  devote  his  life  to  the  study 
of  literature,  until  English  literature,  French, 
German,  Greek, — all  the  great  literatures  of  the 
world, — are  familiar  to  him.  Would  he  there- 
fore be  educated  ?  He  might  be  utterly  help- 
less in  dealing  with  the  practical  problems  of 
life.  He  might  be  entirely  ignorant  of  the  great, 
pressing  problems  of  this  present  century  that 
every  educated  man  is  called  on  to  deal  with  at 
every  turn. 

Now,  to  carry  the  definition  a  little  further, 
what  is  education  ?  Education  is  such  a  devel- 
opment of  our  faculties  and  powers  as  enables  us 
to  be  masters  wherever  we  are  placed — masters 
of  ourselves,  masters  of  our  condition.  And  we 
need,  incidentally,  to  know  enough  to  know 
where  ^^  are  and  what  we  are  there  for.  There 
is  where  the  knowledge  comes  in.  Education 
for  this  century,  for  example,  might  have  been 
utterly  worthless  for  the  seventeenth  century, 
because  the  conditions,  social,  political,  industrial, 
moral  and  religious,  were  entirely  different  then 
from  what  they  are  now.  An  educated  man  in 
the  seventeenth  century  might  be  powerless  to 
deal  in  any  practical  or  effective  way  with  the 
great  problems  of  the  present  century. 

The  most  important  thing  of  all  for  every 
young  man  at  the  outset — and  every  young 
woman  as  well,  it  may  be, — this  present  century. 


EDUCATION  FOR  LIFE,  29 

is  that  he  should  be  so  trained  that,  drop  him 
wherever  you  will  in  the  world,  he  can  earn  an 
honest  living.  That  is  the  foundation,  only. 
Yes.  The  foundation,  however,  is,  in  one  way 
of  looking  at  it,  the  most  important  part  of  any 
structure.  , 


Then  another  point  in  regard  to  which  young 
men  and  women  ought  to  be  educated.  Young 
men  and  women  both  ought  to  be  taught  the 
history  of  government  and  the  peculiar  principles 
of  this  government,  so  that  they  may  be  fitted 
to  play  their  parts  as  citizens.  For  next  to 
earning  an  honest  living,  and  next  to  understand- 
ing the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong, — 
so  that,  if  a  man  chooses  to  do  wrong  he  does  it 
with  his  eyes  open, — is  what  one's  attitude  shall 
be  as  a  citizen. 

We  do  not  know  whether  the  time  will  come 
when  women  will  vote.  That  is  a  matter  too 
large  to  touch  on  now.  But  the  time  has  come 
when  women  are  a  power,  and  a  tremendous 
power,  in  the  political  life  of  the  time, — a  power 
hardly  second  to  that  which  is  excercised  by 
men.  One  of  our  greatest  troubles  is  ignorance 
of  the  past  history  of  the  world.  The  most  dif- 
ficult problem  the  human  race  has  ever  set  itself 
is  the  achievement  of  a  government  which  com- 
bines liberty  and  order. 

We  have  achieved  it  here  in  this  country  more 
completely  than  it  has  ever  been  done  before  in 


30     BEST  AMERICAN-  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

the  history  of  the  world.  And  the  people  who 
come  here  from  other  countries  need  to  learn 
before  they  are  permitted  to  use  the  power  of 
the  ballot  what  the  peculiar  conditions  are  here, 
what  American  citizenship  means.  And  our 
young  men  and  women — living  in  wealthy  circles, 
in  high  social  conditions — need  to  be  reminded 
as  to  how  recent  this  achievement  is,  need  to  be 
reminded  what  a  price  of  agelong  effort,  of  im- 
prisonment, of  torture,  of  death,  has  been  paid 
for  that  which  they  treat  so  lightly. 

No  man  is  fit  to  live  a  human  life  until  he  ap- 
preciates the  position  he  occupies  as  a  citizen, 
and  has  made  a  careful  study  of  the  principles 
involved  in  this  position,  so  that  he  may  acquit 
himself  as  a  man,  who  at  the  same  time  is  one  of 
the  rulers  of  his  city  and  of  his  native  land. 

There  is  another  phase  of  education  that  is 
needed  at  the  present  time.  One  of  the  princi- 
pal problems  of  this  age  is  the  relation  between 
money  and  labor.  In  other  words,  a  properly 
educated  young  man  ought  to  know  something 
of  the  history  of  the  industrial  problems  of  man- 
kind. One  great  difficulty  to-day  is  that  we  are 
having  new  theories  presented  to  us,  new  socie- 
ties formed,  new  organizations  entered  upon  in 
every  direction,  in  order  to  achieve  certain  things 
which  only  reveal  the  ignorance  of  the  people 
who  are  interested  in  them.  Over  and  over 
again  you  will  find  some  association,  club,  society. 


EDUCATION  FOR  LIFE,  3 1 

trying  to  get  people  to  adopt  some  idea  which 
has  been  tried  and  tried  and  exploded  and 
exploded  a  dozen  times  in  the  history  of  the 
world  ;  only  they  do  not  know  it. 

There  are  certain  roads,  it  is  said,  which,  if  you 
follow  them,  will  lead  you  over  the  fence  through 
the  pasture,  then  into  the  woods,  then  along  a 
squirrel  track,  and  up  a  tree.  A  good  many  of 
the  pathways  which  the  reformers,  speculators, 
and  enthusiasts  of  this  modern  world  are  trying 
to  lead  us  in  are  of  this  kind. 

If  you  wish  to  place  yourself  so  that  you 
know  where  you  stand  in  the  pathway  of  the 
world's  industrial  progress,  so  that  you  can  help 
on  that  which  is  of  promise  and  discourage  that 
which  has  no  promise,  then  you  must  be  educated 
concerning  what  humanity  has  tried  to  do,  with 
its  success  and  its  failure  along  the  industrial 
line.  In  spite  of  anything  that  an  individual 
attempts  to  do,  there  is  some  great  power  that  is 
holding  this  world  in  its  hand :  there  is  a  Force 
greater  than  kings,  greater  than  prime  ministers, 
greater  than  philosophers  or  scientists, — there  is 
a  Force  at  work  ;  and  humanity,  under  the  im- 
pulse of  that  Force,  is  moving  along  certain  lines 
in  certain  definite  directions. 

The  thing  for  us  as  earnest,  intelligent  young 
men  and  women  to  do  is  to  know  enough  of  the 
past  and  enough  of  the  present  so  that  we  can 
find   out  which  way  the  world,   industrially,  is 


32      BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

going.  Suppose  we  pit  ourselves  against  the  Force 
that  is  manifested  in  the  universe :  we  only  waste 
our  effort.  What  we  need  to  do  is  to  chime  in, 
to  co-operate  with  this  eternal  Power  that  makes 
for  a  higher  and  better  human  state  of  affairs. 

Side  with  truth  before  it  is  popular  to  side 
with  it.  Side  with  God  and  humanity  and  hu- 
man hope  just  as  fast  as  you  can  see  what  is  best 
for  humanity,  what  promises  the  most  for  human 
hope.  Be  fully  persuaded  in  your  own  mind. 
Do  not  drift.  It  is  not  worthy  of  a  man  to  drift. 
It  is  not  worthy  of  a  man  to  be  governed  merely 
by  social  considerations,  to  go  to  church  because 
he  thinks  it  will  help  him  in  a  business  way, 
because  it  opens  some  doors  to  homes  of  wealth 
and  afifluence  that  he  might  not  otherwise  find  it 
easy  to  enter.  A  man  ought  to  have  a  convic- 
tion. And  what  is  a  conviction  ?  A  conviction 
is  something  of  which  you  have  become  con- 
vinced. It  means  a  little  thought,  a  little  study, 
going  over  the  ground  and  making  up  your  mind. 
Most  people  have  only  opinions,  notions,  im- 
pressions, impulses.  The  number  of  people  who 
have  convictions  is  comparatively  small. 

As  you  face  the  great  problems,  then,  of  the 
march  of  God,  leading  humanity  up  the  ages,  the 
great  problem  of  the  religious  life  of  the  world, 
the  promise  of  the  future,  have  some  convictions 
about  it.  Take  your  place,  bear  your  burden, 
and  do  your  work  like  a  man. 


THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  GOOD  DEEDS.  33 

The  man  who  is  educated  for  life,  then,  is  one 
who  brings  his  whole  life  up  into  relation  to 
these  high  human  ranges  of  thought,  feeling,  and 
action ;  one  who  is  trained  so  that  he  can  master 
himself  and  his  condition  ;  one  who  is  learned 
enough  to  know  where  he  is  in  the  world's  move- 
ment and  what  needs  to  be  done  next ;  one  who 
consecrates  himself  to  the  highest,  so  that  he  is 
not  content  to  be  anything  else  but  the  best ; 
one  who  appreciates  the  fact  that  he  owes  all 
that  he  possesses  to  this  struggling  humanity  of 
which  he  is  a  part,  and  so  stands  ready  to  pay 
back  to  humanity  in  service  what  it  has  given 
him  by  inheritance. 

The  man  who,  thus  trained  to  the  highest 
things  he  can  conceive  of,  who  has  made  the 
most  of  himself  and  then  who  is  ready  to  give 
himself  for  the  world, — he  who  has  reached  this 
position  has  found  education  for  life. 


The  Immortality  of  Good  Deeds. 

Hon.  Thomas  Brackett  Reed. 
Late  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Six  hundred  and  fifty  or  seventy  years  ago, 
England,  which,  during  the  following  period  of 
nearly  seven  centuries,  has  been  the  richest  nation 
on  the  face  of  the  globe,  began  to  establish  the 
two  great  universities  which,  from  the  banks  of 


34      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

the  Carn  and  the  Isis,  have  sent  forth  great 
scholars  and  priests  and  statesmen  whose  deeds 
have  been  part  of  the  history  of  every  land  and 
sea.  During  all  that  long  period  reaching  back 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  it  was  even 
dreamed  that  this  great  hemisphere  existed,  be- 
fore the  world  knew  that  it  was  swinging  in  the 
air  and  rolling  about  the  sun,  kings  and  cardinals, 
nobles  and  great  churchmen,  the  learned  and  the 
pious,  began  bestowing  upon  those  abodes  of 
scholars  their  gifts  of  land  and  money  ;  and  they 
have  continued  their  benefactions  down  to  our 
time.  What  those  universities,  with  all  their 
colleges  and  halls  teeming  with  scholars  for  six 
hundred  years,  have  done  for  the  progress  of 
civilization  and  the  good  of  man  I  could  not  be- 
gin to  tell. 

Although  more  than  six  centuries  of  regal, 
princely,  and  pious  donations  have  been  poured 
into  the  purses  of  these  venerable  aids  to  learn- 
ing, the  munificence  of  one  American  citizen  to- 
day affords  an  endowment  income  equal  to  that 
of  each  university,  and  when  Time  has  done  his 
perfect  work,  Stephen  Girard,  mariner  and  mer- 
chant, may  be  found  to  have  come  nearer  immor- 
tality than  the  long  procession  of  kings  and  car- 
dinals, nobles  and  statesmen,  whose  power  was 
mighty  in  their  own  days,  but  who  are  only  on 
their  way  to  oblivion. 

Unity  and   progress   are   the    watchwords   of 


THE  IMMOR  TALITY  OF  GOOD  DEEDS.  3  5 

Divine  guidance,  and  every  great  event,  or  series 
of  events,  has  been  for  the  good  of  the  race. 
Were  this  the  proper  time,  I  could  show  that 
wars — and  wars  ought  to  be  banished  forever 
from  the  face  of  the  earth ;  that  pestilences — and 
the  time  is  coming  when  they  will  be  no  more  ; 
that  persecutions  and  inquisitions — and  liberty 
of  thought  is  the  richest  pearl  of  life, — that  all 
these  things — wars,  pestilences,  and  persecutions 
— were  but  helps  to  the  unity  of  mankind.  All 
things,  including  our  own  natures,  bind  us  to- 
gether for  deep  and  unrelenting  purposes.  It 
has  been  wisely  ordained  that  no  set  of  creatures 
of  our  race  shall  be  beyond  the  reach  of  others, — 
so  lofty  that  they  will  not  fear  reproach.  If  the 
lofty  and  the  learned  do  not  lift  us  up,  we  drag 
them  down.  But  unity  is  not  the  only  watch- 
word ;  there  must  be  progress  also.  Since  by  a 
law  we  cannot  evade  we  are  to  keep  together 
and  since  we  are  to  progress,  we  must  do  it  to- 
gether, and  nobody  must  be  left  behind.  This  is 
not  a  matter  of  philosophy  ;  it  is  a  matter  of  fact. 
No  progress  which  did  not  lift  all,  ever  lifted 
any.  If  wc  let  the  poison  of  filthy  diseases 
percolate  through  the  hovels  of  the  poor,  Death 
knocks  at  the  palace  gates.  If  we  leave  to  the 
greater  horror  of  ignorance  any  portion  of  our 
race,  the  consequences  of  ignorance  strike  us  all, 
and  there  is  no  escape.  We  must  all  move,  but 
we  must  all  keep  together.     It  is  only  when  the 


36      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

rear-guard  comes  up  that  the  van-guard  can  go 
on. 

Stephen  Girard  must  have  understood  this. 
He  took  under  his  charge  the  progress  of  those 
who  needed  his  aid,  knowing  that  if  they  were 
added  to  the  list  of  good  citizens,  to  the  catalogue 
of  moral,  enterprising,  and  useful  men,  there  was 
so  much  added,  not  to  their  happiness  only,  but 
to  the  welfare  of  the  race  to  which  he  belonged. 
For  his  orphans  the  van-guard  need  not  wait. 
He  also  understood  what  education  was.  Most 
men,  brought  up  as  he  was  on  shipboard  and  on 
shore,  with  few  books  and  fewer  studies,  if  they 
cared  for  learning  at  all,  would  have  had  for 
learning  an  uncouth  reverence,  such  as  the  savage 
has  for  his  idol,  a  reverence  for  the  fancied  mag- 
nificence of  the  unknown.  This  would  have  led 
him  to  establish  a  university  devoted  to  out-of- 
the-way  learning  far  beyond  his  ken,  or  to  link 
his  name  to  glories  to  which  he  could  not  aspire. 
But  the  man  who  named  his  vessels  after  the 
great  French  authors  of  his  age,  and  who  read 
their  works  himself,  knew  from  them,  and  from 
his  own  laborious  and  successful  life,  that  book 
learning  was  not  all  of  education,  and  so  gave  his 
orphans  an  entrance  into  a  practical  world  with 
such  learning  as  left  the  whole  field  of  learning 
before  them,  if  they  wanted  it,  with  power  to 
make  fortunes  besides. 

Stephen  Girard  was  the  greatest  merchant  of 


THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  GOOD  DEEDS,  2t7 

his  time,  with  the  noblest  ambition  of  them  all. 
He  was  so  resolute  in  his  pursuit  of  wealth,  and 
so  coldly  determined  in  all  his  endeavors,  that 
he  seems  to  have  uncovered  to  few  or  to  none 
the  generous  purpose  of  his  heart.  '*  My  actions, 
must  make  my  life,"  he  said,  and  of  his  life  not 
one  moment  was  wasted.  "  Facts  and  things 
rather  than  words  and  signs  "  were  the  warp  and 
woof  of  his  existence.  No  wonder  he  left  the 
injunction  that  this  should  be  the  teaching  of 
those  objects  of  his  bounty  into  whose  faces  he 
was  never  to  look. 

The  vast  wealth  which  Girard  had  was  of  itself 
alone  evidence  of  greatness.  Fortunes  may  be 
made  and  lost.  Fortunes  may  be  inherited. 
These  things  mean  nothing.  But  the  fortune 
which  endowed  Girard  College  was  made  and 
firmly  held  in  a  hand  of  eighty  years.  That 
meant  greatness.  But  when  the  dead  hand 
opens  and  pours  the  rich  bloom  of  a  preparation 
for  life  over  six  thousand  boys  in  the  half  cen- 
tury which  has  gone  and  thousands  in  centuries  to 
come,  that  means  more  than  greatness.  Mr. 
Girard  gave  more  than  his  money.  He  put  into 
his  enterprise  his  own  powerful  brain,  and,  like 
the  ships  he  sent  to  sea,  long  after  his  death  the 
adventure  came  home  laden,  not  with  the  results 
of  his  capital  alone,  but  of  his  forethought  and 
his  genius.  He  builded  for  so  many  years  that 
stars   will   be   cold   before   his  work  is  finished. 


38      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

We  envious  people,  who  cannot  be  wealthy, 
avenge  ourselves  by  thinking  and  proclaiming 
that  the  pursuit  of  wealth  is  sordid  and  stifles 
the  nobler  sentiments  of  the  soul.  Whether 
this  be  so  or  not,  if  whoever  makes  to  grow  two 
blades  of  grass  where  but  one  grew  before,  is  a 
benefactor  of  his  race  ;  he  also  is  a  benefactor 
who  makes  two  ships  sail  the  sea  where  but  one 
encountered  its  storms  before.  However  sordid 
the  owner  may  be,  this  is  a  benefit  of  which  he 
cannot  deprive  the  world. 

That  men  who  have  achieved  great  riches  are 
not  always  shut  out  by  their  riches  from  the 
nobler  emotions,  Stephen  Girard  was  himself  a 
most  illustrious  example.  A  hundred  years  ago 
Philadelphia  was  under  the  black  horror  of  a 
plague.  So  terrible  was  the  fear  that  fell  upon 
the  city,  that  the  tenderest  of  domestic  ties — the 
love  of  husband  and  wife  and  of  parents  for 
children — seemed  obliterated.  Even  gold  lost 
its  power  in  the  presence  of  impending  death. 
There  was  no  refuge  even  in  the  hospital,  which, 
reeking  with  disease,  was  a  hell  out  of  which 
there  was  no  redemption.  Neither  money  nor 
affection  could  buy  service.  *'  Fear  was  on  every 
soul." 

Girard  was  then  in  the  prime  of  life,  forty-two 
years  old,  in  health  and  strength,  already  rich, 
and  with  a  future  as  secure  as  ever  falls  to 
human  lot.     Of  his  own  accord,  as  a  volunteer, 


THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  GOOD  DEEDS.  39 

he  took  charge  of  the  interior  of  the  deadly  hos- 
pital, and  for  two  long  and  weary  months  stood 
face  to  face  with  Death. 

A  poet  has  sung  of  what  makes  the  little  song 
linger  in  our  hearts  forever  while  epics  perish 
and  tragedies  pass  out  of  sight.  Why  this  is  so 
we  shall  never  know  by  reason  alone.  Deep 
down  in  the  human  heart  there  is  a  tenderness 
for  self-sacrifice  which  makes  it  seem  loftier  than 
the  love  of  glory,  and  reveals  the  possibility  of 
the  eternal  soul. 

Wars  and  sieges  pass  away  and  great  intellec- 
tual efforts  cease  to  stir  our  hearts,  but  the  man 
who  sacrifices  himself  for  his  fellows  lives  forever. 

We  forget  the  war  in  which  was  the  siege  of 
Zutphen,  and  almost  the  city  itself,  but  we  shall 
never  forget  the  death  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney. 
Scholars  alone  read  the  work  of  his  life,  but  all 
mankind  honors  him  in  the  story  of  his  death. 
The  great  war  of  the  Crimea,  in  our  own  day, 
with  its  generals  and  marshals,  and  its  bands  of 
storming  soldiery,  has  almost  passed  from  our 
memories,  but  the  time  will  never  come  when 
the  charge  of  Balaklava  will  cease  to  stir  the 
heart  or  pass  from  story  or  from  song.  It  hap- 
pened to  Stephen  Girard,  mariner  and  merchant, 
seeking  wealth  and  finding  it,  whose  ships  traveled 
every  sea,  whose  intellect  penetrated  a  hundred 
years  into  the  future,  to  light  up  his  life  by  a 
deed  more  noble  than  the  dying  courtesy  of  Sid- 


40      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

ney  and  braver  than  the  charge  of  the  Six  Hun- 
dred, for  he  walked  under  his  own  orders  day  by 
day  and  week  by  week,  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  death,  and  was  not  afraid.  How  fit,  indeed, 
it  is,'  that  amidst  the  temples  of  learning  which 
are  the  tribute  to  his  intellect,  should  stand  the 
tablet  which  is  the  tribute  to  his  heart. 

Surely,  if  the  immortal  dead,  serene  with  the 
wisdom  of  eternity, — are  not  above  all  joy  and 
pride,  he  must  feel  a  thrill  to  know  that  no 
mariner  or  merchant  ever  sent  fortTT^a  venture 
upon  unknown  seas  which  came  bacl^  ti^itK'  richer 
cargoes  or  in  statelier  ships. 


The  New  Patriotism. 

Richard  Watson  Gilder. 

What  seems  to  be  the  most  needed  patriotism 
in  our  day  and  country  ?  In  the  first  place,  we 
ought  as  a  nation  to  cultivate  peace  with  all  other 
nations.  This  was  good  patriotism  in  the  days 
of  George  Washington ;  it  ought  to  be  good 
patriotism  in  our  day.  The  new  patriotism, 
therefore,  aims  at  a  condition  of  peace  with  all 
the  world  ;  it  believes  that  Christianity  is  mocked 
by  the  spectacle  of  Christian  nations  in  arms 
against  each  other.  It  believes  that  if  America 
is  ever  to  lift  the  sword  against  a  foreign  foe,  it 
must  not  only  be  in  a  righteous  cause,  but  with 


THE  NE  W  PA  TRIO  TISM.  \\ 

a  pure  heart ;  that  he  who  takes  up  his  sword  to 
enforce  his  will  upon  another  must  see  that  his 
own  will  is  right  and  that  his  own  hands  are 
clean. 

But  the  new  patriotism  has  other  duties  than 
those  of  armed  conflict ;  duties  less  splendid,  but 
no  less  onerous,  and  requiring  no  less  bravery; 
requiring  bravery  of  a  rarer  order  than  that 
which  shone  upon  a  hundred  battlefields  of  our 
Civil  War.  The  roll  of  cowards  among  those 
who  wore  either  the  blue  or  gray  is  insignificant 
indeed.  And  there  was  scarcely  a  single  act  of 
treachery  among  the  combatants  on  either  side. 
Yes,  most  men  will  march  for  country  and 
honor's  sake  straight  into  the  jaws  of  death. 

But  how  many  men  in  our  day,  when  put  to 
the  test  of  civic  courage,  have  we  beheld  turn 
cowards  and  recreants?  How  many  political 
careers  have  we  seen  blighted  by  conscienceless 
compromise  or  base  surrender? 

We  have  also  seen  the  tremendous  power  of 
wise  and  disinterested  effort  in  the  domain  of 
public  affairs.  We  have  seen  brave  men  do  nota- 
ble deeds  for  the  betterment  of  our  country  and 
our  communities.  But  there  must  be  more  such 
men,  or  the  evil  forces  will,  for  a  while,  at  least, 
triumph  in  a  republic,  whose  fortunate  destiny 
must  not  be'weakly  taken  for  granted  by  those 
who  passionately  love  their  country.  We  must 
have  more  leaders,  and  we  must  have   more  fol- 


42      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

lowers  of  the  right.  Men  who  will  resist  civic 
temptation,  who  will  refuse  to  take  the  easy  path 
of  compliance,  and  who  will  fight  for  honesty 
and  purity  in  public  affairs. 


The  Union  Soldier. 

Hon.  John  M.  Thurston. 

Sometimes  in  passing  along  the  street,  I  meet 
a  man  who,  in  the  left  lapel  of  his  coat,  wears  a 
little,  plain,  modest,  unassuming  brass  button. 
The  coat  is  often  old  and  rusty  ;  the  face  above 
it  seamed  and  furrowed  by  the  toil  and  suffering 
of  adverse  years,  perhaps  beside  it  hangs  an 
empty  sleeve,  and  below  it  stumps  a  wooden 
peg.  But  when  I  meet  the  man  who  wears  that 
button,  I  doff  my  hat  and  stand  uncovered  in 
his  presence — yea !  to  me  the  very  dust  his 
weary  foot  has  pressed  is  holy  ground,  for  I 
know  that  man,  in  the  dark  hour  of  the  Nation's 
peril,  bared  his  breast  to  the  fire  of  battle  to  keep 
V  the  flag  of  our  country  in  the  Union  sky. 

May  be  at  Donaldson  he  reached  the  inner 
trench  ;  at  Shiloh  held  the  broken  line  ;  at  Chatta- 
nooga climbed  the  flame-swept  hill  or  stormed  the 
clouds  on  Lookout  Heights.  He  was  not  born  or 
bred  to  soldier  life.  His  country's  summons 
called  him  from  the  plow,  the  forge,  the  bench, 
the   loom,   the    mine,  the  store,   the   ofifice,   the 


THE  UNION  SOLDIER.  43 

college,  the  sanctuary.  He  did  not  fight  for 
greed  of  gold,  to  find  adventure,  or  to  win  re- 
nown. He  loved  the  peace  of  quiet  ways,  and 
yet  he  broke  the  clasp  of  clinging  arms,  turned 
from  the  witching  glances  of  tender  eyes,  left 
good-bye  kisses  upon  tiny  lips  to  look  death  in 
the  face  on  desperate  fields. 

And  when  the  war  was  over  he  quietly  took 
up  the  broken  threads  of  love  and  life  as  best  he 
could,  a  better  citizen  for  having  been  so  good  a 
soldier. 

What  mighty  men  have  worn  this  same  bronze 
button  !  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  Logan,  and 
a  hundred  more,  whose  names  are  written 
on  the  title  page  of  deathless  fame.  Their  glor. 
ious  victories  are  known  to  men ;  the  history 
of  their  country  gives  them  voice  ;  the  white 
light  of  publicity  illuminates  them  for  every  eye. 
But  there  are  thousands  who,  in  humbler  way, 
no  less  deserve  applause.  How  many  knight- 
liest  acts  of  chivalry  were  never  seen  beyond  they 
line  or  heard  above  the  roar  of  battle.  I  know 
a  man  wearing  the  button  whose  modest  lips  will 
not  unclose  upon  his  own  heroic  deeds.  Let  me 
the  story  tell  of  one.  On  the  morning  of  July  i, 
1862,  5,000  confederate  cavalry  advanced  upon 
Boonville,  Mo.,  then  held  by  Col.  Philip  Sheridan 
with  less  than  a  thousand  troopers.  The  federal 
line,  being  strongly  intrenched,  was  able  to  hold 
its   ground    against   the   greatly   superior   force. 


44      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

But  Sheridan,  fearful  of  being  outflanked,  direct- 
ed a  young  captain  to  take  a  portion  of  two  com- 
panies, make  a  rapid  detour,  charge  the  enemy 
in  the  rear,  and  throw  its  line  into  confusion,  thus 
making  possible  a  simultaneous  and  successful 
attack  in  front.  Sheridan  said  to  him  :  "  I 
expect  of  your  command  the  quick  and  desperate 
work  usually  imposed  upon  a  forlorn  hope  ;  '*  at 
the  same  time  bidding  him  what  promised  to  be 
an  eternal  farewell.  Ninety-two  men  rode  calmly 
out,  knowing  the  supreme  moment  of  their  lives 
had  come.  What  was  in  their  hearts  during 
that  silent  ride  ?  What  lights  and  shadows 
flashed  across  the  cameras  of  their  souls?  To 
one  pale  boy  there  came  the  vision  of  a  quaint 
old  house,  a  white  haired  woman  on  her  knees  in 
prayer,  an  open  Bible  by  her  side,  God's  peace 
upon  her  face.  Another  memory  held  a  cottage, 
half  embedded  in  the  shade  of  sheltering  trees 
and  clinging  vines;  stray  bits  of  sunshine  round 
the  open  door;  within,  a  fair  young  mother^ 
crooning  lullabys  above  a  baby's  crib.  And  one 
old  grizzled  hero  seemed  to  see,  in  mists  of  un- 
shed tears,  a  brush-grown  corner  of  the  farm- 
yard fence,  and  through  the  rails  a  blended  pic- 
ture of  iaded  calico  and  golden  curls  and  laugh- 
ing eyesXiAnd  then  the  little  column  halted  on 
a  bit  of  rising  ground  and  faced — destiny  ! 

Before  them  was  a  brigade   of  cavalry,  3,000 
strong.      That   way    lay    death.      Behind    them 


THE  UNION  SOLDIER.  45 

were  the  open  fields,  the  sheltering  woods,  safe- 
ty and — dishonor.  Just  for  a  moment  every 
cheek  was  blanched.  A  robin  sang  unheeded 
from  a  neighboring  limb";  clusters  of  purple 
daisies  bloomed  unseen  upon  the  grassy  slope ; 
the  sweet  fresh  breath  of  early  summer  filled  the 
air,  unfelt  by  all.  They  only  saw  the  dear  old 
flag  of  union  overhead ;  they  only  knew  that 
foes  of  country  blocked  the  road  in  front ;  they 
only  heard  the  ringing  voice  of  their  gallant 
leader  ordering  the  charge,  and  with  a  yell  the 
little  troop  swept  on. 

**  Flashed  every  sabre  bare. 
Flashed  as  they  turned  in  air. 
Charging  an  army, 
While  all  the  world  wondered." 

So  sudden  and  unexpected  was  the  attack,  so 
desperate  and  irresistible  the  charge,  that  this 
handful  of  men  cut  their  way  through  the  heart 
of  a  whole  brigade.  Ttien,  in  prompt  obedience 
to  the  calm  command  of  their  captain,  they 
wheeled,  re-formed  and  charged  again.  At  this 
opportune  moment,  while  the  confederates  were 
in  confusion,  Sheridan's  whole  line  dashed  for- 
ward with  mighty  cheers  and  the  day  was  won. 

That  night  forty  of  the  ninety-two  kept  their 
eternal  bivouac  on  the  field  of  battle,  their  white 
faces  kissed  by  the  silent  stars.  The  captain  was 
left  for  dead,  but  thank  God  !  he  still  lives  ;  lives 


4^'     BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

to  wear  the  button  of  a  people's  love.  For  the 
man  whose  subHme  courage  and  daring  leader- 
ship gave  victory  and  a  first  star  to  Phil  Sheri- 
dan, was  Russel  A.  Alger  of  Detroit.  God 
bless  the  men  who  wore  the  button  !  They 
pinned  the  stars  of  Union  in  the  azure  of  our  flag 
with  bayonets,  and  made  atonement  for  a  nation's 
sin  in  blood.  They  took  the  negro  from  the 
auction  block  and  at  the  altar  of  emancipation 
crowned  him — citizen.  They  supplemented 
"Yankee  Doodle  "  with  "  Glory  Hallelujah,"  and 
Yorktown  with  Appomattox.  Their  powder 
woke  the  morn  of  universal  freedom  and  made 
the  name  "  American  "  first  in  all  the  earth.  ^ 
To  us  their  memory  is  an  inspiration  and  to  the 
future  it  is  hope. 


Men :  Made,  Self-made,  and  Unmade. 

Abridged. 

E.  G.  Robinson,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Late  President  of  Brown  University. 

The  highest  ideal  of  manhood  that  the  world 
has  yet  seen  now  hovers  before  the  minds  of  the 
Christian  nations.  But,  alas !  how  extremely 
small  the  number  of  those  who  ever  approximate 
a  realization  of  it.  Geniuses  may  shoot  above 
the  common  level,  but  they  do  not  fill  out  the 
ideals  of   men.     The  ideal    man  is   he    in  whom 


MEN:  MADE,  SELF-MADE,  AND  UNMADE.       4/ 

every  endowment  of  his  being  is  developed  in 
harmony  with  every  other,  and  each  to  the 
highest  degree  of  which  all  are  capable. 

The  one  great  aim  of  all  education  is,  of 
course,  to  secure  the  highest  style  of  men.  In 
strict  accord  with  a  people's  conception  of  the 
highest  style  will  always  be  its  methods  of 
education ;  and  the  nearer  its  approach  to  a 
realization  of  its  conception,  the  more  exact  and 
philosophical  will  be  its  educational  methods. 
The  greatest  glory  of  any  nation,  country,  or 
time,  is  its  great  men, — men  who  are  great,  not 
alone  by  great  talents  or  by  deeds  of  great  daring, 
but  by  great  excellence  of  character  and  by 
nobleness  of  purposes  and  acts.  To  multiply  for 
itself  such  men  is  the  great  aim  of  a  people's 
system  of  education. 

The  most  elaborate  training,  however,  quite 
too  often  fails  to  produce  first-rate  men.  Not 
unfrequently  persons  of  high  mental  endow- 
.ments  leave  our  educational  institutions  crowned 
with  academic  honors  only  to  drop  at  once  into 
the  ranks  of  the  commonplace  and  the  forgotten. 
Criticisms  of  our  educational  methods  abound, 
and  bitter  complaints  are  heard  on  every  hand 
that  they  fail  to  secure  to  those  subjected  to 
them  the  efificiency  and  power  of  leadership 
which  the  educated  are  rightfully  expected  to 
possess.  Not  a  few  of  the  liberally  educated, 
failing  in  what  they  have  undertaken  in  life,  are 


4^     BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

sneered  at  as  the  legitimate  product  of  the 
schools  and  colleges.  They  have  all  of  the  form, 
but  none  of  the  power,  of  well-trained  men. 
They  are  7nade  men,  who  have  been  spoiled  in 
the  making.  And  what  is  it  that  has  spoiled 
them? 

The  cause  of  failure  doubtless  sometimes  lies 
in  poor  teaching.  Some  teachers  have  a  marvel- 
lous faculty  for  repressing  rather  than  educing 
the  powers  of  their  pupils.  They  treat  their 
pupils  as  the  muleteer  treats  his  mules :  most 
approving  them  when  they  are  most  passive  and 
docile  in  receiving  and  carrying  their  packs. 
They  seem  to  suppose  that  the  true  function  of 
the  teacher  is  to  impart  rather  than  to  draw  out 
and  stimulate  to  acquisition.  Languages,  especi- 
ally the  ancient  classics,  are  too  often  taught  as 
anatomists  sometimes  teach  physiology,  solely 
by  dissection.  The  languages  are  treated  as  if 
they  were  literally,  what  they  often  are  called, 
dead  languages ;  as  if,  having  long  ago  served 
their  purpose  as  living  tongues,  their  only  use  to 
us  now  is  as  illustrations  of  grammatical  princi- 
ples ;  and  when  they  have  served  this  purpose 
to  the  student,  he  is  left  to  feel  that,  Hke  the 
student  of  physiology  ,  with  the  cadaver  when 
he  is  through  with  it,  nothing  else  is  to  be  done 
but  to  shovel  the  remains  out  of  sight.  Exces- 
sive doses  of  grammar  have  destroyed  the  appe- 
tite of   many  a  student   for   the  classics,  so  that 


MEN:  MADE,  SELF-MADE,  AND  UNMADE.       49 

he  has  dropped  them  from  the  day  he  ceased 
to  study  them  in  college.  Another  source  of 
irreparable  mischief  in  teaching  is  in  the  careless 
and  slovenly  work  of  men  who  make  of  teaching 
a  temporary  convenience  for  earning  means  to 
take  them  on  to  something  else, — making  it  a 
mere  stepping-stone  to  other  and  more  congenial 
work.  Indifferent  to  everything  but  their 
stipend,  they  glide  in  the  most  perfunctory  way 
through  all  their  offices  as  teachers,  killing  by 
their  very  indifference  every  springing  germ  of 
interest  in  their  scholars.  And  I  might  add 
that  others  still,  faultless  in  all  the  letter  and 
minutiae  of  scholarship,  and  with  the  best  of 
intentions  as  teachers,  but  naturally  inert  and 
self-contained,  can  awaken  no  enthusiasm  in 
others,  and  succeed  only  in  imparting  of  their 
own  inertia  to  their  pupils. 

But  it  is  not  alone  through  faults  of  teachers 
that  so  many  of  the  educated,  so  many  of  the 
graduates  of  our  colleges,  find  themselves  un- 
fitted for  success  in  life.  Still  more  frequently 
the  fault  has  been  entirely  with  the  educated 
themselves.  And  it  often  begins  at  the  outset 
of  student  life.  The  road  of  the  nobodies  is 
already  entered  on  when  a  student  is  w  illing  to 
let  other  people  do  his  hard  work  for  liim.  If  he 
lets  his  fellow-students  work  out  his  difficult  prob- 
lems for  him,  and  unravel  for  him  the  mysteries  of 
obscure  passages  in  his  translations,  it  will  be  easy 


50      BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

to  tell  what  his  education  will  do  for  him.  If 
he  be  content  to  submit  himself  in  mere 
passivity  to  the  carving  hand  of  the  professor, 
making  no  effort  to  acquire  by  his  own  exertions, 
it  will  not  be  difficult  to  foretellwhat  he  will  have 
amounted  to  when  professors  shall  have  done 
with  him.  Docility  is  a  prime  quality  in  every 
good  student ;  but  docility  and  passivity  are  not 
identical.  Receptivity  is  good  ;  but  receptivity 
with  power  to  assimilate  what  is  acquired,  and 
multiply  it,  is  far  better.  The  pupil  may  present 
himself  to  the  professor  like  a  block  of  marble  to 
be  chiselled  into  form,  or  he  may  be  like  a  tree 
which  pruning  and  culture  shall  quicken  into  a 
healthier  and  more  vigorous  growth.  Outward 
stimulus  is  all  in  vain  without  the  inward  energy 
that  reacts  and  receives  and  assimilates.  A 
stick  may  be  whittled  into  the  form  of  a  man, 
but  changed  as  it  may  be  in  form  it  will  still  be  a 
stick  of  a  man.  Alas,  that  so  many  of  the  liber- 
ally educated  prove  to  be  only  half-animate ! 

With  the  utmost  efforts  to  promote  individual 
development,  it  is  marvellous  how  almost  uni- 
formly the  individual  is  merged  in  the  mass, — 
how  almost  identical  are  the  mental,  social,  and 
moral  stamps  put  upon  all  the  graduates  of  any 
single  institution  of  learning.  Any  one  of  its 
graduates  will  show  you  the  general  character- 
istics of  all.  All  have  been  poured  into  the  same 
mould,  and   the   native  force  of   some  of   them 


men:  made,  self-made,  and  unmade,    51 

must  have  been  sadly  compressed.  Carefully 
observing  professors  in  our  professional  schools 
easily  distinguish  between  the  differing  types  of 
mind  and  character  coming  from  the  different 
colleges, — can  almost  determine  with  accuracy 
the  college  a  student  has  come  from  so  soon  as 
they  have  had  fair  opportunity  to  gauge  him. 
College  professors,  after  due  experience,  can  even 
make  some  very  happy  guesses  as  to  which  of 
the  great  preparatory  schools  a  boy  has  come 
from  when  they  have  had  opportunity  to  taste 
the  quality  of  his  preparation.  Even  different 
law  schools  put  a  not  undiscernible  difference  of 
impress  on  their  graduates.  Theological  schools 
put  a  most  conspicuous  difference  of  stamps  on 
theirs.  The  stamps  of  those  of  the  same  com- 
munion differ  widely.  It  was  not  therefore  a 
wholly  ungrounded  caricature  once  made  of  a 
theological  school,  representing  it  as  a  grist-mill 
into  whose  hopper  men  of  the  most  diverse  stat- 
ure, weight,  and  dress  were  being  dropped  while 
from  the  farther  side  of  the  mill  along  procession 
of  clericals  was  emerging,  every  one  of  whom 
was  precisely  like  every  other  in  height,  and 
weight,  and  carriage,  and  apparel.  To  cramp  a 
man  into  likeness  to  other  men,  is  to  cripple  him, 
if  not  to  unfit  him,  for  any  efficient  service  in  this 
world.  Teachers,  like  rescuers  of  the  freezing, 
must  force  their  pupils  into  self-exertion  if  they 
would  save  them. 


5  2      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V, 

Young  men  seeking  an  education  are  pretty 
sure  to  end  in  becoming  mere  made  men  when 
their  ambition  rests  content  with  doing  simply 
the  tasks  assigned  for  the  recitation-room.  Of 
course,  the  tasks  should  command  the  first  atten- 
tion. They  are  assigned  for  the  best  of  reasons. 
If  needed  to  master  them,  they  should  absorb 
one's  whole  attention.  But  the  tasks  are  not 
for  their  own  sakes.  Made  an  end  in  themselves, 
they  are  sure  to  dwarf  the  doer  of  them  into  an 
intellectual  puppet  or  a  parrot.  Multitudes  of 
men  are  scattered  throughout  our  country  who 
were  admirable  at  their  tasks  in  every  stage  of 
their  education  and  in  every  department  of 
knowledge, — who  even  went  forth  as  honor  men 
from  the  halls  of  learning, — but  who  in  all  effect- 
ive work  in  human  society  are  hopeless  failures 
You  find  them  at  the  bar  and  you  find  them  in 
the  pulpit ;  professors'  chairs  are  not  without 
them  ;  and  they  are  not  wanting  in  the  halls  of 
legislation, — admirably  carved  semblances  of  cul- 
tivated manhood,  having  all  the  shape  and 
comeliness  but  not  a  whit  of  the  living  power  of 
well-trained  intellects.  >  For  them  the  work  of 
the  college  and  the  schools  was  its  own  end ; 
when  it  was  finished  they  had  **  attained."  They 
rested  on  their  laurels.  Their  education,  so  far 
from  fitting,  simply  unfitted  them  for  the  work 
which  a  waiting  world  had  a  right  to  expect 
from  them. 


MEN:  MADE,   SELF-MADE,  AND  UNMADE.      53 

But  whatever  the  process  and  whatever  the 
product  in  the  making  of  men,  one  of  the  saddest 
aspects  of  human  life  is  the  number  of  the  well- 
made  who  finally  unmake  themselves,  and  end 
their  days  in  ultimate  ruin  of  both  mind  and 
character.  But  let  it  ever  be  remembered  that 
personal  ruin  comes  neither  by  fate  nor  by  fiat. 
Not  even  omnipotence  can  destroy  rightly  built 
character.  No  lightning  bolt  can  shatter  it,  no 
flood  drown  it,  no  fire  consume  it.  It  is  inde- 
structible, except  by  him  who  has  formed  it. 
Only  the  man  himself  can  destroy  himself.  Per- 
sonal ruin,  moreover,  comes  not  as  sudden  catas- 
trophe, but  as  the  result  of  causes,  hidden  it  may 
be,  but  long  at  work.  Human  wrecks  are  not 
wrought  in  an  hour.  It  was  not  a  sudden  and 
new-born  impulse  that  prompted  Lord  Bacon  to 
offer  his  smooth  palm  for  the  bribe  that  has 
blackened  his  name  forever.  The  cinders  and 
molten  lava  of  the  volcano  are  not  born  of  a 
single  day's  burning. 

Evil  thoughts  are  sure  in  due  time  to  breed 
evil  deeds.  Man  is  social ;  the  social  prompts  to 
the  convivial ;  the  convivial  adds  to  its  festivities 
the  cup  of  exhilaration.  The  exhilaration  may 
be  a  very  little  flame  at  the  first,  but  lighted 
often  it  speedily  blazes  into  an  all-consuming 
fire  which  yielded  to  in  youth,  dominates  man- 
hood, trampling  all  goodness  and  beauty  into 
the  mire. 


54      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

But  it  is  not  alone  a  collapse  of  character 
that  is  to  be  guarded  against:  a  lesser,  but  still 
a  deplorable  calamity,  not  unfrequently  befall- 
ing educated  men  in  our  time,  is  a  species  of 
intellectual  bankruptcy, — a  bankruptcy  in  some 
cases  foreseen  and  foretold,  as  when  one  seeks 
to  prepare  himself  for  a  profession  by  the  short- 
est  cut  possible  and  simply  to  gain  a  livelihood  ; 
in  other  cases,  a  bankruptcy  unexpected  and 
utterly  disappointing,  as  when  one  proposing 
to  prepare  himself  for  a  profession  resolves  to 
enter  on  the  practice  of  it  only  after  the  com- 
pletest  preparation  that  the  highest  industry 
can  secure.  As  a  student  he  outstrips  his  fel- 
lows, acquiring  with  rapidity  and  retaining  with 
ease.  His  literary  and  scientific  studies  are 
finished  with  applause.  His  professional  train- 
ing is  passed  through  with  great  credit  and  the 
functions  of  the  chosen  profession  are  assumed. 
To  these  functions  is  given  an  undivided  atten- 
tion. They  absorb  the  whole  man.  The  stud- 
ies that  engrossed  him  in  the  academy  and 
roused  him  to  enthusiasm  in  college  have 
dropped  out  of  mind.  College  books  that 
were  not  sold  when  finished  are  thrown  aside 
as  lumber.  The  imago  of  the  insect  is  not  more 
removed  from  its  larva  state  than  this  profes- 
sional man  from  his  school  days.  The  connec- 
tion between  the  two  periods  is  not  that  of 
continuous  and  consciously  organic  growth,  but 


MEN:  MADE,  SELF-MADE,  AND  UNMADE.      55 

of  an  unconscious  metamorphosis.  The  stud- 
ent has  been  lost  in  the  lawyer,  the  doctor,  the 
clergyman,  the  editor,  the  engineer.  Here  and 
there  one  rises  to  the  full,  rounded  distinction 
of  both  scholar  and  professional  man,  a  few- 
attain  to  eminence  as  masters  of  the  technicali- 
ties of  their  professions  ;  but  a  countless  number 
sink  into  mere  professional  hacks, — prostituting 
their  professions  into  mere  livelihood  trades, — 
of  whom  the  great  public  soon  wearies  and 
refuses  to  take  account.  The  wealth  of  learning 
which  they  began  to  accumulate  with  such  fair 
promise,  husbanded  and  added  to,  would  have 
enriched  life  and  increased  their  power;  but  they 
are  intellectual  bankrupts. 

And  yet  even  to  these  the  training  of  the 
school-room  and  of  the  college  has  been  invalu- 
able. They  gave  a  mental  discipline  and  useful 
knowledge  which  could  have  been  obtained  in 
no  other  way.  Even  the  professional  hack  is 
a  better  hack  for  having  been  well  trained  in 
intellect.  Without  due  mental  discipline  neither 
the  principles  involved  in  the  professions  could 
have  been  properly  understood,  nor  the  func- 
tions required  have  been  intelligently  per- 
formed ;  and  without  the  drudgery  of  the 
schools  the  requisite  mental  discipline  would 
have  remained  unattainable ;  and  among  all  the 
studies  yet  open  to  man  none  seem  so  com- 
pletely capable  of   fulfilling  at  once  the  double 


56      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

office  of  discipline  and  of  subsequent  usefulness 
in  life  as  those  languages  on  which  the  existing 
literatures  of  the  world  more  or  less  directly 
rest,  and  those  sciences  out  of  which  are  daily- 
springing  the  discoveries  and  inventions  that 
are  fast  changing  the  face  of  the  whole  earth, 
and  serving  as  vehicles  of  the  thoughts  that  are 
to  transform  into  neighbors  and  brothers  all  the 
races  of  mankind. 


The  Battle  of  Santiago. 

Hon.  Henry  Cabot  Lodge. 

From  "  The  War  with  Spain."  Copyright,  1899,  by 
Harper  &  Brothers.     Used  by  permission  of  the  publishers. 

The  American  people  will  always  remember 
that  hot  summer  morning  and  the  anxiety  that 
overspread  the  land.  They  will  always  see  the 
American  ships  rolling  lazily  on  the  long  seas, 
and  the  sailors  just  going  to  Sunday  inspection. 
Then  comes  the  long,  thin  trail  of  smoke  drawing 
nearer  the  harbor's  mouth.  The  ships  see  it, 
and  we  can  hear  the  cheers  ring  out,  for  the 
enemy  is  coming,  and  the  American  sailor  re- 
joices mightily  to  know  that  the  battle  is  set. 
There  is  no  need  of  signals,  no  need  of  orders. 
The  patient,  long-watching  admiral  has  given 
direction  for  every  chance  that  may  befall. 
Every  ship  is  in  place  ;  every  ship  rushes  forward, 
closing  in  upon  the  enemy,  fiercely  pouring  shells 


THE  BATTLE   OF  SANTIAGO.  5/ 

from  broadside  and  turret.  There  is  the  Glouces- 
ter firing  her  little  shots  at  the  great  cruisers, 
and  then  driving  down  to  grapple  with  the  tor- 
pedo boats.  There  are  the  Spanish  ships,  already 
mortally  hurt,  running  along  the  shore,  shattered 
and  breaking  under  the  fire  of  the  hidiana,  the 
Iowa,  and  the  Texas  ;  there  is  the  Brooklyn  rac- 
ing by,  to  head  the  fugitives,  and  the  Oregon 
dealing  death-strokes  as  she  rushes  forward, 
forging  to  the  front,  and  leaving  her  mark  every- 
where as  she  goes.  On  they  go,  driving  through 
the  water,  firing  steadily  and  ever  getting  closer, 
and  presently  the  Spanish  cruisers,  helpless,  burn- 
ing, twisted  wrecks  of  iron,  are  piled  along  the 
shore,  and  we  see  the  younger  officers  and  the 
men  of  their  victorious  ships  periling  their  lives 
to  save  their  beaten  enemies.  We  see  Wain- 
Wright  on  the  Gloucester  as  eager  in  rescue  as  he 
was  swift  in  fight.  We  hear  Philip  cry  out, 
"  Don't  cheer.  The  poor  devils  are  dying."  We 
watch  Evans  as  he  hands  back  the  sword  to  the 
wounded  Eulate,  and  then  writes  in  his  report  : 
"  I  cannot  express  my  admiration  for  my  mag- 
nificent crew.  So  long  as  the  enemy  showed  his 
flag,  they  fought  like  American  seamen  ;  but 
when  the  flag  came  down,  they  were  as  gentle  and 
tender  as  American  women."  They  all  stand  out 
to  us,  these  gallant  figures,  from  admiral  to  sea- 
men, with  an  intense  human  interest,  fearless  in 
fight,  brave  and  merciful  in  the  hour  of  victory. 


5  8      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

Work  and  Play. 

Hamilton  Wright  Mabie. 

From  '*  Essays  on  Nature  and  Culture."  Copyright, 
1896,  by  Dodd,  Mead  and  Co.     Used  by  permission. 

Nothing  in  natural  processes  is  more  sugges- 
tive than  the  apparent  ease  with  which  the 
greatest  power  is  put  forth  and  the  most  diverse 
and  difficult  tasks  accomplished.  Nature  never 
rests,  and  yet  is  always  in  repose ;  she  never 
ceases  to  work,  and  yet  always  seems  to  be  at 
play.  The  expenditure  of  power  involved  in  the 
change  from  winter  to  summer  is  incalculable  ; 
but  the  change  is  accomplished  so  quietly  and  by 
such  delicate  gradations  that  it  is  impossible  to 
associate  the  idea  of  toil  with  it.  There  is  no 
strenuous  putting  forth  of  force ;  there  is  rather 
the  overflow  of  a  fathomless  life.  The  tide  of 
life  runs  to  the  summit  of  the  remotest  mountain 
which  nourishes  a  bit  of  verdure,  as  easily  as  the 
water  sweeps  in  from  the  sea  when  the  tide  turns 
and  the  creeks  and  inlets  begin  to  sing  once 
more  in  the  music  of  returning  waves. 

The  secret  of  this  silent,  invisible,  easy  play 
of  force  and  accomplishment  of  ends  lies,  perhaps 
in  perfect  adaptation  of  instrument  to  task,  in 
absence  of  friction,  in  complete  harmony  between 
power,  methods,  and  ultimate  aims. 

The  entire  harmony  which  characterizes  Na- 
ture   in  her  unconsciousness  is  not   possible   to 


WORK  AND  FLA  V.  59 

man  in  his  consciousness ;  but  the  conditions 
under  which  the  life  of  Nature  manifests  itself 
and  bears  its  manifold  fruits  is  rich  in  hints  and 
suggestions.  At  no  point  is  the  analogy  between 
that  life,  in  certain  of  its  aspects,  and  the  life  of 
man,  more  striking  and  helpful. 

The  secret  of  heroic  work  is  harmony  between 
man  and  his  task  ;  an  adjustment  so  complete 
that  the  putting  forth  of  strength  in  a  specific 
direction  becomes  as  natural  and  instinctive  as 
breathing  or  walking.  So  long  as  we  toil,  we  are 
slaves,  and  the  labor  of  the  slave  is  always 
stamped  with  a  certain  inferiority.  Toil  involves 
drudgery,  and  is  mechanical  and  perfunctory ;  it 
is  devoid  of  personality,  beauty,  or  power;  it 
implies  a  dominating  force  accomplishing  its  ends 
by  sheer  authority,  and  a  free  human  spirit  giv- 
ing its  vitality  full  play.  When  toil  becomes 
work,  drudgery  gives  place  to  a  conscientious 
and  often  cheerful  expenditure  of  power  and 
surrender  of  ease.  The  worker  is  free,  and  puts  his 
heart  and  soul  into  his  work  with  the  joy  of  one 
who  serves  his  own  high  aims  rather  than  bends 
unwillingly  to  an  authority  stronger  than  his  own 
personality.  In  its  subordination  of  the  minor 
to  the  major  motives  of  living,  its  quiet  substitu- 
tion of  the  lower  for  the  higher  pleasures,  its  dis- 
cipline, and  Its  self-sacrifice,  work,  instead  of  being 
the  traditional  curse  of  the  race,  is  its  blessing, 
its  happiness,  and  its  reward. 


6o     BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  K 

The  heroic  workers  of  the  world  are  the  men 
whose  tasks  are  most  enviable  ;  they  are  lifted 
'     )ve  themselves  by  absorption  in  great  under- 

kings ;  they  are  engrossed  in  occupations  which 
not  only  ease  the  pain  of  living  by  steadily  call- 
ing forth  the  highest  in  the  worker,  but  which 
educate,  liberate,  and  enrich  even  while  they 
exhaust. 

As  work  is  higher  than  toil,  so  is  play  higher 
than  work.  Toil  rests  on  submission,  work  on 
freedom,  play  on  spontaneity  and  self-unconsci- 
ousness. The  toiler  is  a  slave,  the  worker  a  free 
man,  the  man  who  plays  an  artist.  When  work 
rises  into  the  sphere  of  creativeness,  takes  on  new 
forms,  breathes  the  vital  spirit,  becomes  distinctive 
and  individual,  it  is  transformed  into  art.  It  is 
no  longer  accomplished  under  the  law  of  necess- 
ity ;  it  has  become  free.  It  is  no  longer  full  of 
strain  and  pain ;  it  is  joyful ;  it  is  the  natural 
overflow  of  a  rich  and  powerful  nature. 

To  turn  work  into  play  is,  therefore,  the  high- 
est achievement  of  active  life  ;  and  to  rise,  in  any 
department  of  work,  from  apprenticeship  and 
artisanship  to  the  ease  and  freedom  of  the  artist, 
IS  to  attain  the  most  genuine  and  satisfying  suc- 
cess which  a  life  of  activity  offers. 

The  pleasure  of  play  is  not  the  absence  of 
effort,  but  the  consciousness  of  freedom  ;  not 
escape  from  weariness,  but  the  feeling  that  one 
has  put  himself  into  the  game  of  life  masterfully. 


THE  MARCH  OF    THE    CONSTITUTION.       6 1 

When  the  joy  of  working  takes  possession  of  a 
man,  he  ceases  to  take  account  of  times  and  days 
and  places ;  he  is  always  at  work,  for  work  is 
him  the  normal  form  of  activity.  He  not  on. 
loves  his  task, — the  man  in  the  working  stage 
often  loves  his  work, — but  he  individualizes  it, 
handles  it  freely,  freshly,  originally.  He  makes 
his  own  times,  develops  his  own  methods, 
fashions  his  own  tools.  The  work  which  he  does 
with  his  hands  is  not  a  thing  outside  of  his  con- 
sciousness and  apart  from  his  experience  ;  it  is  a 
part  of  himself,  for  it  is  the  expression  of  his  own 
soul. 


The  March  of  the  Constitution. 

Andrew  S.  Draper,    LL.D. 
President  of  University  of  Illinois.  Contributed  by  the  author. 

A  FREE  Constitution,  written  or  unwritten, 
can  and  must  be  progressive. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has  not 
been  written  in  completed  form ;  it  never  will  be. 
The  Constitution  itself  has  not  been  perfected  ; 
it  never  will  be.  The  resources  of  language  can 
describe  the  Constitution  but  inadequately.  It 
is  infinitely  more  than  our  fathers  were  able  to 
agree  upon,  or  to  anticipate  and  formulate  in  a 
written  paper  a  hundred  years  ago. 

It  is  all  that  we  inherited  from  the  mother 
country  after  all  the  heroisms  and  triumphs  in 


62      BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

the  evolution  of  a  race,  and  in  the  building  of  a 
free  nation  through  a  thousand  years.  It  covers 
a  full  knowledge  of  the  accomplishments  and  the 
failures  of  all  other  governments  in  all  ages  and 
in  all  the  world. 

It  is  the  physical  energy  and  the  intellectual 
resourcefulness  which  have  come  from  the  ad- 
mixture of  blood  and  of  civilizations. 

It  is  the  country  we  now  possess,  crossed  by 
the  natural  thoroughfares  of  the  nations,  with 
endless  shores  and  uncounted  harbors  washed  by 
the  waters  of  both  oceans.  It  is  our  mountains 
and  plains,  our  great  lakes  and  majestic  rivers, 
our  diversified  climate,  our  corn  lands  and  cotton 
lands  and  wheat  lands,  our  inexhaustible  mines, 
and  the  herds  upon  our  ten  thousand  hills. 

It  is  our  great  factories  in  every  town,  our 
magnificent  steel  highways  threading  our  valleys, 
tunnelling  or  scaling  our  mountains  and  making 
the  maps  of  our  prairie  states  black  with  their 
frequency.  It  is  our  genius  in  invention  and  our 
skill  and  courage  in  engineering.  It  is  our  com- 
mon respect  for  labor,  and  the  accounts  in  our 
savings  banks.  It  is  the  unparalleled  opportuni- 
ties, in  every  direction,  which  are  offered  to  recti- 
tude and  to  endeavor,  no  matter  how  humble  the 
roof  under  which  they  were  born.  It  is  our  pub- 
lishing houses,  our  newspaper  press,  our  libraries 
and  museums  and  art  galleries. 

It   is   the   spirit  of   the   American  home,  the 


THE  MARCH  OF  THE   CONSTITUTION.       63 

equality  of  right  in  it,  the  exalted  position  of 
women,  and  the  dominating  influence  of  the 
mother  in  the  household. 

It  is  our  free  public  school  at  every  door,  and 
our  centers  of  the  higher  learning  pushing  the 
scientific  advance  in  every  possible  direction  and 
promoting  every  conceivable  phase  of  intellectual 
activity.  It  is  our  churches  and  our  Sunday 
schools,  the  complete  toleration  of  religious 
opinion,  and  the  common  respect  for  religious 
worship.  It  is  our  private  benevolences,  and 
our  steadily  improving  treatment  of  the  trouble- 
some and  dependent  classes. 

It  is  the  individualism  and  the  balanced  sense 
of  the  nation,  the  love  of  freedom  which  is  so 
strong  that  no  one  is  afraid  of  losing  the  object 
of  it.  It  is  the  regard  for  laws  which  are  funda- 
mental, the  indifference  to  laws  which  are  seen 
to  be  only  advisory,  the  jealousy  of  laws  which 
tend  to  favor  special  interests  or  seem  to  set  at 
naught  the  common  thought. 

The  old  Pilgrim  at  Plymouth,  the  minute-man 
at  Lexington  Green  and  Concord  Bridge  were  in 
our  Constitution  at  the  beginning ;  the  citizen 
soldier  of  the  Civil  War,  the  Oregon  upon  her 
fifteen  thousand  miles  journey  around  the  Horn 
and  then  at  once  the  decisive  factor  in  the  most 
sanguinary  naval  battle  in  all  history,  the  college 
boys  and  farmers*  lads  and  millionaires'  sons 
fighting  their  way  together  up   the  flame-swept 


64     BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  K. 

hill  at  San  Juan,  the  veterans  of  the  Ninth  Regu- 
lar Infantry  pushing  their  way  through  the  Au- 
gust heat  and  the  sand  and  filth  of  China,  and 
battering  down  the  gates  of  the  Forbidden  City 
to  relieve  the  American  legation  from  the  horrors 
of  Pekin,  are  all  in  the  Constitution  now. 

The  spirit  of  the  nation,  that  spirit  which 
moved  out  of  the  old  world  into  the  new,  that 
chastened  and  tolerant,  that  sober  and  yet  ag- 
gressive spirit  which  separated  from  an  established 
Church,  and  so  learned  how  to  separate  from  an 
autocratic  State ;  which  centered  at  Plymouth 
Rock,  and  then  tempered  the  heroic  but  intoler- 
ant sentiment  at  the  Bay  ;  which  moved  out  into 
the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  and  then  crossed 
the  Berkshires  into  the  valleys  of  the  Hudson  and 
the  Mohawk  and  the  Susquehanna;  which 
crossed  the  AUeghanies  and  the  Blue  Ridge ; 
which  took  possession  of  the  prairies  with  con- 
fident and  resolute  step ;  which  scaled  the 
Rockies  and  claimed  the  Pacific  shores  ;  which 
passed  through  the  Golden  Gate  and  into  the 
beyond.  This  spirit  is  the  very  life  of  tlie  Con- 
stitution. The  spirit  that  has  fattened  for  a  hun- 
dred years  upon  what  it  has  fed,  that  chafes  more 
and  more  at  the  long  continued  exactions  of  the 
kings,  and  that  would  extend  free  government, 
its  helps  and  its  opportunities,  is  in  the  Constitu- 
tion in  yet  larger  measure  now  than  in  the  days 
of  our  fathers. 


THE  MARCH  OF    THE   CONSTITUTION.  6$ 

More,  far  more,  than  any  one  can  tell,  is  in  the 
American  Constitution.  May  the  God  of  nations 
give  us  larger  reverence  for  the  inspirations  that 
are  in  our  history,  whether  inscribed  in  the  law 
books  of  state,  or  written  upon  the  hearts  of  men 
and  women.  May  the  written  law  be  construed 
in  the  light  of  the  traditions,  the  heroisms,  the 
opportunities,  and  the  aspirations  of  the  unwrit- 
ten. May  the  Supreme  Court  never  lack  in  dis- 
cretion, or  in  courage.  And  under  its  guidance 
may  the  Constitution  march  on.  May  it  advance 
without  greed  and,  if  possible,  without  war.  May 
it  go  forward  with  the  consciousness  of  moral 
right  to  widen  the  area  of  civilization  and  enlarge 
the  liberty  of  the  human  race.  Never  fear. 
Vastness  may  prove  to  be  the  ark  of  our  safety. 
May  all  the  fundamental  principles  of  human 
liberty  be  upheld  and,  within  the  lines  which 
they  have  laid  down,  may  the  Constitution  and 
the  flag  of  the  great  Republic  march  on, 

"  Flag  of  the  heroes  who  left  us  their  glory, 
Borne  through  their  battle-fields  thunder  and  fifame, 
Blazoned  in  song  and  illumined  in  story- 
Wave  o'er  us  all  who  inherit  their  fame." 

"  Light  of  our  firmament,  guide  of  our  nation, 
Pride  of  her  children,  and  honored  afar. 
Let  the  wi^ie  beams  of  thy  full  constellation 
Scatter  each  cloud  that  would  darken  a  star." 

"  With  the  red  for  love,  and  the  white  for  law. 
And  the  blue  for  the  hope  that  our  fathers  saw." 


66      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

Education  and  the  Self-Made  Man. 

Grover  Cleveland. 

Used  by  permission. 

Manifestly  among  the  tools  to  be  used  in 
the  construction  of  the  best  quality  of  our  self- 
made  men,  education  is  vitally  important.  Its 
share  of  the  work  consists  in  so  strengthening 
and  fashioning  the  grain  and  fibre  of  the  material 
as  to  develop  its  greatest  power  and  fit  it  for  the 
most  extensive  and  varied  service.  This  process 
cannot  be  neglected  with  the  expectation  of  sat- 
isfactory results,  and  its  thoroughness  and  effect- 
iveness must  depend  upon  the  excellence  and 
condition  of  the  tool  employed,  and  the  skill  and 
care  with  which  it  is  used.  Happily  we  are  able 
to  recognize  conditions  which  tend  to  an  im- 
proved appreciation  of  collegiate  advantages. 
The  extension  of  our  school  system  ought  to 
stimulate  the  desire  of  pupils  to  enjoy  larger 
opportunities.  The  old  superstition  concerning 
the  close  relationship  between  the  greatness  of 
the  self-made  man  and  meager  educational  advan- 
tages is  fast  disappearing,  and  parents  are  more 
generally  convinced  that  the  time  and  money 
involved  in  a  college  course  for  their  children 
are  not  wasted.  In  these  circumstances  it  seems 
to  me  there  is  no  sufficient  reason  why  so  many 
of  our  young  men  fail  of  enrollment  among  our 


EDUCA  TION  AND  THE  SELF-MADE  MAN.         6/ 

college  students.  I  am  afraid  the  fault  is  largely 
theirs  and  that  they  do  not  fully  realize  the 
great  benefit  they,  themselves,  would  derive 
from  a  liberal  education,  and  even  without  this, 
the  obligation  resting  upon  them  to  do  their 
share  toward  furnishing  to  our  country  the  kind 
of  self-made  men  it  so  much  needs,  ought  to 
incite  them  to  enter  upon  this  work  in  the  surest 
and  most  effective  manner.  We  are  considering 
the  importance  of  a  liberal  education  from  a 
point  of  view  that  excludes  the  idea  that  such  an 
education  is  only  useful  as  a  preparation  for  a 
professional  career.  In  my  opinion  we  could  as 
reasonably  claim  that  our  professional  ranks  are 
more  than  sufficiently  recruited,  as  to  say  that 
educated  men  are  out  of  place  in  other  walks  of 
life.  We  need  the  right  kind  of  educated,  self- 
made  men  in  our  business  circles,  on  our  farms 
and  everywhere.  We  need  them  for  the  good 
they  can  do  by  raising  the  standard  of  intelli- 
gence within  their  field  of  influence.  We  need 
them  for  the  evidence  they  may  furnish  that 
education  is  a  profitable  factor  in  all  vocations 
and  in  all  the  ordinary  affairs  of  a  community, 
and  we  especially  and  sorely  need  such  men, 
abundantly  distributed  among  our  people,  for 
what  they  may  do  in  patriotically  steadying  the 
current  of  political  sentiment  and  action. 

I  hardly  need  say  that  this  means  something 
more  than  mere  book  learning  and   that  it  in- 


68      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

eludes  the  practical  knowledge  and  information 
concerning  men  and  things  which  so  easily 
accompanies  the  knowledge  of  books,  as  well  as 
the  mental  discipline  and  orderly  habit  of 
thought  which  systematic  study  begets.  Ob- 
viously this  definition  excludes  that  measure  of 
book  learning  barely  sufficient  to  claim  a  diploma 
and  used  for  no  better  purpose  than  to  decorate 
the  ease  of  wealth  and  ornament  of  an  inactive 
existence. 

Sordidness  is  not  confined  to  those  whose  only 
success  consists  in  riches.  There  is  a  sordidness 
of  education  more  censurable  though  perhaps 
less  exposed.  There  are  those  whose  success  is 
made  up  of  a  vast  accumulation  of  education  who 
are  as  miserly  in  its  possession  as  the  most  avari- 
cious among  the  rich.  No  one  is  justified  in  hoard- 
ing education  solely  for  his  selfish  gratification. 
To  keep  it  entirely  in  close  custody,  to  take  a 
greedy  pleasure  in  its  contemplation  and  to  utilize 
it  only  as  a  means  of  personal  unshared  enjoyment, 
is  more  unpardonable  than  the  clutch  of  the 
miser  upon  his  money  ;  for  he  in  its  accumulation 
has  been  subjected  to  the  cramping  and  narrow- 
ing influences  of  avarice,  while  he  who  hoards 
education  does  violence  to  the  broad  and  liberal 
influences  which  accompany  its  acquisition. 
The  obligations  of  wealth  and  the  obligations  of 
education  are  co-operative  and  equally  binding. 
The  discharge  of  these  obligations  involves  re- 


THE  SOLDIER  BOY.  69 

straint  as  well  as  activity.  The  rich  man  should 
restrain  himself  from  harboring  or  having  the 
appearance  of  harboring  any  feeling  of  purse- 
proud  superiority  over  his  less  wealthy  fellows. 
Without  such  restraint  the  distance  is  lengthened 
between  him  and  those  whom  by  contact  and 
association,  he  might  benefit.  It  is  thus,  too, 
that  envious  discontent  and  hatred  of  the  rich  is 
engendered  and  perpetuated.  So,  also,  the  man 
of  education  should  carefully  keep  himself  from 
the  indulgence  or  seeming  indulgence  in  a  super- 
cilious loftiness  toward  his  fellow-citizens. 
Otherwise  he  will  see  those  whom  he  might  im- 
prove and  elevate,  if  within  his  reach,  standing 
aloof  and  answering  every  invitation  to  a  nearer 
approach  with  mockery  and  derision.  The  be- 
nign influence  of  both  the  educated  and  the  rich 
is  among  and  with  their  fellow-men  of  less  educa- 
tion and  less  wealth  ;  and  real  and  hearty  fellow- 
ship  is  absolutely  needful  to  the  success  of  their 
mission. 


The  Soldier  Boy. 

Hon.  John  Davis  Long. 

Memorial  Day  will  hereafter  gather  around 
it  not  only  the  love  and  tears  and  pride  of  the 
generations  of  the  people,  but  more  and  more,  in 
its  inner  circle  of  tenderness,  the  linking  mem- 


70      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

ories  of  every  comrade,  so  long  as  one  survives. 
As  the  dawn  ushers  it  in,  tinged  already  with 
exquisite  flush  of  hastening  June,  and  sweet 
with  the  bursting  fragrance  of  her  roses,  the 
wheels  of  time  will  each  year  roll  back,  and  lo  ! 
John  Andrew  is  at  the  State-house,  inspiring 
Massachusetts  with  the  throbbing  of  his  own 
great  heart ;  Abraham  Lincoln,  wise  and  patient 
and  honest  and  tender  and  true,  is  at  the  nation's 
helm  ;  the  North  is  one  broad  blaze  ;  the  boys 
in  blue  are  marching  to  the  front ;  the  fife  and 
drum  are  on  every  breeze  ;  the  very  air  is  patrio- 
tism ;  Phil  Sheridan,  twenty  miles  away,  dashes 
back  to  turn  defeat  to  victory ;  Farragut,  lashed 
to  the  mast-head,  is  steaming  into  Mobile  Har- 
bor;  Hooker  is  above  the  clouds, — ay,  now  in- 
deed forever  above  the  clouds  ;  Sherman  marches 
through  Georgia  to  the  sea ;  Grant  has  throttled 
Lee  with  the  grip  that  never  lets  go  ;  Richmond 
falls;  the  armies  of  the  Republic  pass  in  that 
last  great  review  at  Washington ,  Custer's  plume 
is  there,  but  Kearney's  saddle  is  empty ;  and, 
now  again,  our  veterans  come  marching  home  to 
receive  the  welcome  of  a  grateful  people,  and  to 
stack  in  Doric  Hall  the  tattered  flags  which 
Massachusetts  forever  hence  shall  wear  above  her 
heart. 

In  memory  of  the  dead.  In  honor  of  the  living, 
for  inspiration  to  our  children,  we  gather  to-day 
to  deck  the  graves  of  our  patriots  with  flowers, 


THE  SOLDIER  BOY,  7 1 

to  pledge  commonwealth  and  town  and  citizen 
to  fresh  recognition  of  the  surviving  soldier,  and 
to  picture  yet  again  the  romance,  the  reality,  the 
glory,  the  sacrifice  of  his  service.  As  if  it  were 
but  yesterday  you  recall  him.  He  had  but 
turned  twenty.  The  exquisite  tint  of  youthful 
health  was  on  his  cheek.  His  pure  heart  shone 
from  frank,  outspeaking  eyes.  His  fair  hair 
clustered  from  beneath  his  cap.  He  had  pulled 
a  stout  oar  in  the  college  race,  or  walked  the 
most  graceful  athlete  on  the  village  green.  He 
had  just  entered  on  the  vocation  of  his  life. 
The  doorway  of  his  home  at  this  season  of  the 
year  was  brilliant  in  the  dewy  morn  with  the 
clambering  vine  and  fragrant  flower,  as  in  and 
out  he  went,  the  beloved  of  mothers  and  sisters, 
and  the  ideal  of  a  New  England  youth.  .  .  . 

And  when  the  drum  beat,  when  the  first 
martyr's  blood  sprinkled  the  stones  of  Baltimore, 
he  took  his  place  in  the  ranks  and  went  forward. 
You  remember  his  ingenuous  and  glowing  letters 
to  his  mother,  written  as  if  his  pen  were  dipped 
in  his  very  heart.  How  novel  seemed  to  him 
the  routine  of  service,  the  life  of  camp  and 
march  !  How  eager  the  wish  to  meet  the  enemy 
and  strike  his  first  blow  for  the  good  cause! 
What  pride  at  the  promotion  that  came  and  put 
its  chevron  on  his  arm  or  its  strap  upon  his 
shoulder  !  .  .  . 

They  took  him  prisoner.     He  wasted  in  Libby 


72      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

and  grew  gaunt  and  haggard  with  the  horror  of 
his  sufferings  and  with  pity  for  the  greater  horror 
of  the  sufferings  of  his  comrades  who  fainted  and 
died  at  his  side.  .  .  .  He  tunneled  the  earth 
and  escaped.  Hungry  and  weak,  in  terror  of 
recapture,  he  followed  by  night  the  pathway  of 
the  railroad.  He  slept  in  thickets  and  sank  in 
swamps.  He  saw  the  glitter  of  horsemen  who 
pursued  him.  He  knew  the  bloodhound  was  on 
his  track.  He  reached  the  line ;  and,  with  his 
hand  grasping  at  freedom,  they  caught  and  took 
him  back  to  captivity.  He  was  exchanged  at 
last ;  and  you  remember,  when  he  came  home 
on  a  short  furlough,  how  manly  and  war-worn  he 
had  grown.  But  he  soon  returned  to  the  ranks 
and  to  the  welcome  of  his  comrades.  They 
recall  him  now  alike  with  tears  and  pride.  In 
the  rifle-pits  around  Petersburg  you  heard  his 
steady  voice  and  firm  command.  Some  one 
who  saw  him  then  fancied  that  he  seemed  that 
day  like  one  who  forefelt  the  end.  But  there 
was  no  flinching  as  he  charged.  He  had  just 
turned  to  give  a  cheer  when  the  fatal  ball  struck 
him.  There  was  a  convulsion  of  the  upward 
hand.  His  eyes,  pleading  and  loyal,  turned 
their  last  glance  to  the  flag.  His  lips  parted. 
He  fell  dead,  and  at  nightfall  lay  with  his  face  to 
the  stars.  Home  they  brought  him,  fairer  than 
Adonis  over  whom  the  goddess  of  beauty  wept. 
They  buried  him  in  the  village  churchyard  under 


A  MANLY  FELLOW,  73 

the  green  turf.  Year  by  year  his  comrades  and 
his  kin,  nearer  than  comrades,  scatter  his  grave 
with  flowers.  Do  you  ask  who  he  was?  He 
was  in  every  regiment  and  every  company.  He 
went  out  from  every  village.  He  sleeps  in  every 
burying-ground.  Recall  romance,  recite  the 
names  of  heroes  of  legend  and  song,  but  there 
is  none  that  is  his  peer. 


A  Manly  Fellow. 

Cyrus  Northrop,  LL.D. 
President  of  the  University  of  Minnesota. 

If  there  is  any  expression  which,  when  applied 
to  a  young  man  brings  honor  to  him,  it  is  the 
expression,  "  A  manly  fellow."  It  means  so  very 
much  that  is  good,  and  the  absence  of  so  very 
much  that  is  bad.  "  He  is  a  manly  fellow.  He 
dares  do  all  that  may  become  a  man ;  who  dares 
do  more  is  none."  Both  in  what  he  dare  do  and 
what  he  dare  not  do,  he  is  manly.  For  you  will 
notice  that  it  is  quite  as  manly  not  to  dare  to  do 
some  things  as  it  is  to  dare  to  do  the  boldest 
things.  There  is,  for  example,  hardly  any  higher 
praise  which  a  teacher  can  give  a  scholar  than  to 
say  of  him  that  *'  he  scorns  to  do  a  mean  act." 
The  boy  of  whom  that  can  be  said  is  the  boy 
who  is  going  to  be  in  after  years  the  kind  of  man 
whom  you  like  to  meet,  whom  you  can   trust, 


74      BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

who,  in  western  phraseology,  *'  will  do  to  tie  to.'* 
He  is  going  to  be  the  man,  who,  wherever  he 
lives,  will  be  looked  up  to  and  be  trusted  by  the 
community;  will  be  a  leader  in  all  measures  for 
the  welfare  of  society  ;  will  be  the  man  on  whom 
his  rector  can  lean  with  assurance ;  on  whose 
judgment  the  business  men  of  his  place  can  rely : 
to  whom  the  widow  and  the  orphan  can  go  for 
advice  and  comfort ;  and  towards  whom  the  eyes 
of  those  even  who  despise  and  hate  the  things 
which  he  esteems,  will  turn  with  involuntary 
admiration  and  respect.  What  this  country  needs 
is  a  larger  supply  of  manly  fellows  to  fill  in  with 
— of  manly  fellows  who  will  stand  by  one  another 
in  defence  of  everything  good,  who  will  hold  on 
to  the  highest  things  and  yet  not  let  go  of  the 
people  who  are  below  them;  who,  without  any 
6ant  or  hypocrisy,  but  because  in  a  manly  way 
they  believe  in  God  and  the  things  that  are  good, 
will  do  their  best,  by  showing  in  their  lives  what 
Christianity  really  is,  to  prevent  in  this  age  of 
hardness  and  bitterness  and  growing  hate,  the 
Church  of  Christ  from  being  separated  by  an  im- 
passable gulf  from  the  men  and  women  for  whom 
Christ  died.  It  is  a  glorious  thing  to  be  this  sort 
of  a  man,  and  there  never  was  an  age  or  a  coun- 
try in  which  such  men  were  so  needed  or  had  so 
blessed  a  future  before  them,  as  now  and  here. 
They  are  needed  not  merely  as  commanders  or 
as  leaders  in  the  Church,  but  as  privates  and  in 


DANIEL   WEBSTER.  75 

society  and  business  life — they  are  needed  as  ex- 
amples to  show  that  a  truly  manly  fellow  can  do 
his  duty  wherever  God  puts  him,  in  the  ranks 
just  as  well  as  in  command. 


Daniel  Webster. 

Hon.  George  F.  Hoar. 

Used  by  permission. 

Mr.  Webster  made  an  impression  upon  the 
people  of  Massachusetts,  in  his  time,  as  of  a 
demi-god.  His  magnificent  presence,  his  state- 
liness  of  manner,  his  dignity,  from  which  he 
never  bent,  even  in  his  most  convivial  and  play- 
ful moments,  his  grandeur  of  speech  and  bearing, 
the  habit  of  dealing  exclusively  with  the  greatest 
subjects,  enabled  him  to  maintain  his  state.  His 
great,  sane  intelligence  pervaded  everything  he 
said  and  did.  But  he  has  left  behind  few  evi- 
dences of  constructive  statesmanship.  There  is 
hardly  a  great  measure  of  legislation  with  which 
his  name  is  connected,  and  he  seems  to  us  now 
to  have  erred  in  judgment  in  a  great  many  cases, 
especially  in  undervaluing  the  great  territory  on 
the  Pacific.  He  consented  readily  to  the  aban- 
donment of  our  claim  to  the  territory  between 
the  forty-ninth  parallel  and  that  of  fifty-four 
forty,  which  would  have  insured  our  supremacy 
on    the    Pacific,   and    have   saved    us    from    the 


76      BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

menace  and  rivalry  there  of  the  power  of  Eng- 
land. He  voted  against  the  treaty  by  which 
we  acquired  California.  That,  however,  is  proof 
of  a  larger  foresight  than  that  of  any  of  his 
contemporaries.  Alone  he  foresaw  the  terrible 
Civil  War,  to  which  everybody  else  of  his  time 
was  blind.  What  even  he  did  not  foresee  was 
the  triumphant  success  of  the  Union  arms.  It 
is  hardly  to  be  doubted  that  if  the  Civil  War  had 
come  in  1850  or  185 1,  instead  of  1861,  its  result 
would  have  been  different.  But  Mr.  Webster's 
great  service  to  his  country,  a  service  second  to 
that  of  Washington  alone,  is  that  he  inspired  in 
the  people  to  whom  union  and  self-government 
seemed  but  a  doubtful  experiment,, the  sentiment 
of  a  nationality,  of  love  of  the  flag,  and  a  passion- 
ate attachment  to  the  whole  country.  When  his 
political  life  began  we  were  a  feeble  folk,  the 
bonds  of  the  Union  resting  lightly  upon  the 
states,  the  contingency  of  disunion  contemplated 
without  much  abhorrence  by  many  leading  men, 
both  North  and  South.  Mr.  Webster  awoke  in 
the  bosom  of  his  countrymen  the  conception  of 
national  unity  and  national  greatness.  It  has 
been  said  more  than  once  that  the  guns  of  our 
artillery  in  the  great  battles  of  the  Civil  War 
were  shotted  with  the  reply  to  Hayne  which 
ended  with  the  well-known  words,  "  Liberty  and 
Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable." 
History  has  not  yet  settled  the  question  of  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER,  7/ 

motive  that  inspired  the  7th  of  March  speech. 
Doubtless  there  were  good  and  patriotic  men, 
men  who  had  loved  him  till  that  hour,  who  went  to 
their  graves  believing  that  Webster  fell — fell  like 
Lucifer,  Son  of  the  Morning.  There  are,  doubt- 
less, men  living  who  think  so  to-day.  To  the 
thought  of  these  men  Whittier  gave  voice  in  his 
terrible  "  Ichabod,"  which  is  said  to  have 
wounded  the  great  heart  of  its  subject  more 
than  any  other  stroke  that  ever  smote  his 
mighty  forehead.  But  the  general  judgment  of 
his  countrymen,  first  mellowing  and  softening 
into  the  belief  which  Whittier  himself  expressed 
in  his  later  and  tender  poem,  "  The  Lost  Oppor- 
tunity," seems  gradually  coming  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  Webster  differed  from  the  friends  of 
freedom  of  his  time,  not  in  a  weaker  moral  sense, 
but  only  in  a  larger  and  profounder  prophetic 
vision.  When  he  resisted  the  acquisition  of 
California,  he  saw  what  no  other  man  saw,  the 
certainty  of  the  Civil  War.  It  was  not  given 
even  to  him  to  see  its  wonderful  and  victorious 
result.  When  he  compromised  he  saw  in  like 
manner  the  danger  he  tried  to  avert.  He  did 
not  see  the  safety  only  to  be  attained  through 
the  path  of  danger  and  strife.  Some  of  us 
judged  him  severely.  Let  us  think  of  him  now 
only  as  the  best  type  of  the  farmer's  boy  of  the 
early  time ;  as  the  great  example  of  the  New 
England  character  of  the  day  of  his  earlier  man- 


78      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

hood,  as  the  great  defender  and  lover  of  Massa- 
chusetts, as  the  orator  who  first  taught  his 
country  her  own  greatness,  and  who  bound  fast 
with  indissoluble  strength  the  bonds  of  union  ;  as 
the  first  of  American  lawyers,  the  first  of  Ameri- 
can orators,  the  first  of  American  statesmen, 
and  as  the  delightful  citizen  and  neighbor  and 
friend,  of  whom  the  people  of  his  town  said 
when  he  was  laid  in  the  grave  : 

*'  How  lonesome  the  world  seems ; "  and  of 
whom  his  nearest  friend  said,  when  he  died  : 

"  From  these  conversations  of  friendship  no 
man — no  man,  old  or  young — went  away  to 
remember  one  word  of  profanity,  one  allusion  of 
indelicacy,  one  impure  thought,  one  unbelieving 
suggestion,  one  doubt  cast  on  the  reality  of 
virtue,  of  patriotism,  of  enthusiasm,  of  the  pro- 
gress of  man — one  doubt  cast  on  righteousness, 
or  temperance,  or  judgment  to  come." 


Spanish  Prisoners  of  War. 

William  Dean  Howells. 

From  "  Literature  and  Life."     Copyright,  1902,  by  Har- 
per and  Brothers.     Used  by  permission. 

Certain  summers  ago  our  cruisers,  the  St. 
Louis  and  the  Harvard,  arrived  at  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire,  with  sixteen  or  seventeen 
hundred    Spanish    prisoners   from    Santiago   de 


SPANISH  PRISONERS  OF   WAR,  79 

Cuba.  They  were  partly  soldiers  of  the  land 
forces  picked  up  by  our  troops  in  the  fights  be- 
fore the  city,  but  by  far  the  greater  part  were 
sailors  and  marines  from  Cervera's  ill-fated  fleet. 
It  was  an  afternoon  of  the  brilliancy  known 
only  to  an  afternoon  of  the  American  summer, 
and  the  water  of  the  swift  Piscataqua  River 
glittered  in  the  sun  with  a  really  incomparable 
brilliancy.  But  nothing  could  light  up  the  great 
monster  of  a  ship,  painted  the  dismal  lead-color 
which  our  White-Squadrons  put  on  with  the  out- 
break of  the  war,  and  she  lay  sullen  in  the 
stream  with  a  look  of  ponderous  repose,  to 
which  the  activities  of  the  coaling-barges  at  her 
side,  and  of  the  sailors  washing  her  decks, 
seemed  quite  unrelated.  A  long  gun  forward 
and  a  long  gun  aft  threatened  the  fleet  of 
launches,  tugs,  dories,  and  cat-boats  which  flut- 
tered about  her,  but  the  Harvard  looked  tired 
and  bored,  and  seemed  as  if  asleep.  She  had,  in 
fact,  finished  her  mission.  The  captives  whom 
death  had  released  had  been  carried  out  and 
sunk  in  the  sea ;  those  who  survived  to  a  further 
imprisonment  had  all  been  taken  to  the  pretty 
island  a  mile  farther  up  the  river,  where  the  tide 
rushes  back  and  forth  through  the  Narrows  like 
a  torrent.  Its  defiant  rapidity  has  won  it  there 
the  graphic  name  of  PuU-and-be-Damned  ;  and 
we  could  only  hope  to  reach  the  island  by  a 
series  of  skilful   tacks,  which  should  humor  both 


8o      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

the  wind  and  the  tide,  both  dead  against  us. 
Our  boatman,  one  of  those  shore  New  Englanders 
who  are  born  with  a  knowledge  of  sailing,  was 
easily  master  of  the  art  of  this,  but  it  took 
time. 

We  drew  nearer  and  nearer  their  prison  isle, 
and  it  opened  its  knotty  points  and  little  ravines, 
overrun  with  sweet-fern,  blueberry-bushes,  and 
low  blackberry-vines,  and  rigidly  traversed  with 
a  high  stockade  of  yellow  pine  boards.  Six  or 
eight  long,  low,  wooden  barracks  stretched  side 
by  side  across  the  general  slope,  with  the  captive 
officers  quarters,  sheathed  in  weather-proof  black 
paper,  at  one  end  of  them.  About  their  doors 
swarmed  the  common  prisoners,  spilling  out 
over  the  steps  and  on  the  grass,  where  some  of 
them  lounged,  smoking. 

The  prisoners  were  already  filing  out  of  their 
quarters  at  a  rapid  trot  towards  the  benches 
where  the  great  wash-boilers  of  coffee  were  set. 
Each  man  had  a  soup  plate  and  bowl  of  enam- 
elled tin,  and  each  in  his  turn  received  a  quarter  of 
a  loaf  of  fresh  bread  and  a  big  ladleful  of  steam- 
ing coffee,  which  he  made  off  with  to  his  place  at 
one  of  the  long  tables  under  a  shed  at  the  side  of 
the  stockade.  One  young  fellow  tried  to  get  a 
place  not  his  own  in  the  shade,  and  our  officer 
when  he  came  back  explained  that  he  was  a 
gtierrillerOy  and  rather  unruly.  We  heard 
that    eight   of   the   prisoners   were    in    irons,  by 


SPANISH  PRISONERS   OF   WAR.  8 1 

sentence  of  their  own  officers,  for  misconduct, 
but  all  save  this  guerrillero  here  were  docile  and 
obedient  enough,  and  seemed  only  too  glad  to 
get  peacefully  at  their  bread  and  coffee. 

First  among  them  came  the  men  of  the 
Cristobal  Colon,  and  these  were  the  best  looking 
of  all  the  captives.  From  their  pretty  fair  aver- 
age the  others  varied  to  worse  and  worse,  till  a 
very  scrub  lot,  said  to  be  ex-convicts,  brought  up 
the  rear.  They  were  nearly  all  little  fellows,  and 
very  dark,  though  here  and  there  a  six-footer 
towered  up,  or  a  blond  showed  among  them. 
They  were  joking  and  laughing  together,  harm- 
lessly enough,  but  I  must  own  that  they  looked 
a  crew  of  rather  sorry  jail-birds  ;  though  whether 
any  kind  of  humanity  clad  in  misfits  of  our  navy 
blue  and  white,  and  other  chance  garments,  with 
close-shaven  heads,  and  sometimes  bare  feet, 
would  have  looked  much  less  like  jail-birds  I  am 
not  sure.  Still  they  were  not  prepossessing,  and 
though  some  of  them  were  pathetically  young, 
they  had  none  of  the  charm  of  boyhood.  No 
doubt  they  did  not  do  themselves  justice,  and  to 
be  herded  there  like  cattle  did  not  improve  their 
chances  of  making  a  favorable  impression  on  the 
observer.  At  a  certain  bugle-call  they  dispersed, 
when  they  had  finished  their  bread  and  coffee, 
and  scattered  about  over  the  grass,  or  returned 
to  their  barracks.  We  were  told  that  these 
children  of  the  sun  dreaded  its  heat,  and  kept 


82      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

out  of  it  whenever  they  could,  even  in  its  decline  ; 
but  they  seemed  not  so  much  to  withdraw  and 
hide  themselves  from  that,  as  to  vanish  into  the 
history  of  "  old,  unhappy,  far-off  "  times,  where 
prisoners  of  war  properly  belong.  I  roused  my- 
self with  a  start  as  if  I  had  lost  them  in  the  past. 
The  whole  thing  was  very  American  in  the 
perfect  decorum  and  the  utter  absence  of  cere- 
mony. Our  good  fellows  were  in  the  clothes 
they  wore  through  the  fights  at  Santiago,  and 
they  could  not  have  put  on  much  splendor  if 
they  had  wished,  but  apparently  they  did  not 
wish.  They  were  simple,  straightforward  and 
adequate.  There  was  some  dry  joking  about 
the  superiority  of  the  prisoners'  rations  and 
lodgings,  and  our  officer  ironically  professed  his 
intention  of  messing  with  the  Spanish  officers. 
But  there  was  no  grudge,  and  not  a  shadow  of 
ill-will,  or  of  that  stupid  and  atrocious  hate 
toward  the  public  enemy  which  abominable 
newspapers  and  politicians  had  tried  to  breed  in 
the  popular  mind.  There  was  nothing  manifest 
but  a  sort  of  cheerful  purpose  to  live  up  to  that 
military  ideal  of  duty  which  is  so  much  nobler 
than  the  civil  ideal  of  self-interest.  Perhaps 
duty  will  yet  become  the  civil  ideal,  when  the 
peoples  shall  have  learned  to  live  for  the  common 
good,  and  are  united  for  the  operation  of  the 
industries  as  they  now  are  for  the  hostilities. 


''FOREFATHERS'   DAVr  83 

"  Forefathers*  Day." 

Arthur  Twining  Hadley,  LL.^D. 
President  of  Yale  University. 

Our  theme  is  an  old  one ;  its  application  is 
vitally  and  intensely  modern.  As  an  event  of 
history,  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  is  re- 
ceding into  the  past,  and  tends  to  be  overshadowed 
in  our  minds  by  other  events  of  greater  popular 
interest ;  but  as  an  example  for  men's  lives  it  was 
never  more  important  than  at  this  opening  of  the 
twentieth  century,  and  in  the  face  of  the  new 
political  and  industrial  problems  which  that 
century  brings. 

It  not  infrequently  happens  that  the  meaning 
of  a  great  anniversary  is  for  a  time  partly  lost  ; 
and  then  found  once  more,  when  some  renewal 
of  the  old  conditions  arises,  and  it  becomes  an 
inspiration  for  the  present,  as  well  as  a  remem- 
brance of  the  past.  So  it  was  with  the  birthday 
of  our  national  independence.  In  the  first  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century  the  celebration  of  the 
Fourth  of  July  was  becoming  perfunctory.  To 
those  who  knew  not  what  it  was  to  fight  for  an 
idea,  the  memory  of  Revolutionary  heroes  became 
obscured  ;  their  principles  mere  phrases,  from 
which  the  vital  meaning  had  gone  out.  But 
when  hearts  were  tried  in  the  fires  of  another  war, 
then  did  this  anniversary  rise  into  something 
more  than  an  empty  form  of  commemoration  of 


84      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

the  dead,  and  make  itself  an  occasion  of  patriotism 
in  the  living. 

So  it  has  been,  to  some  extent,  with  our  remem- 
brance of  the  Puritan,  both  of  the  Old  England 
and  of  the  New.  Although  we  have  not  ceased 
to  render  him  gratitude  for  the  hardships  which 
he  bore  in  order  that  his  descendants  might  live 
a  life  of  freedom,  we  have  in  some  measure  lost 
personal  contact  with  the  man  and  understanding 
of  what  he  really  was.  By  nine  persons  out  of 
ten  the  Puritans  of  the  seventeenth  century  are 
remembered  chiefly  for  the  pattern  of  their  clothes 
or  the  phraseology  of  their  creeds ;  and  even  the 
tenth  man,  who  really  goes  below  the  surface, 
often  lays  wrong  emphasis  on  the  different  parts 
of  their  activity,  and  fails  to  understand  the  true 
reason  of  their  power.  He  thinks  of  the  Puritan 
not  so  much  for  what  he  did  as  for  what  he  re- 
fused to  do  and  forbade  others  to  do  ;  as  one  who 
held  himself  aloof  from  the  joys  of  life  and  apart 
from  the  sympathies  of  humanity. 

Not  in  such  restrictions  and  refusals  was  the 
strength  of  the  Puritan  character  founded.  Not 
by  any  such  negative  virtue  did  it  conquer  the 
world.  The  true  Puritan  was  intensely  human — 
a  man  who  "  ate  when  he  was  hungry  and  drank 
when  he  was  thirsty  ;  loved  his  friends  and  hated 
his  enemies."  If  he  submitted  to  self-imposed 
hardships,  and  practiced  abstention  where  others 
allowed  themselves  latitude,  it  was  not  because  he 


''FOREFATHERS'   DAYr  85 

had  less  range  of  interest  than  his  fellows,  but 
because  he  had  more  range.  He  did  these  things 
as  a  means  to  an  end.  His  thoughts  went  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  single  day  or  the  single 
island.  He  was  a  man  who  considered  power  as 
more  than  possession,  principles  as  better  than 
acquirements,  public  duty  as  paramount  to  per- 
sonal allegiance.  He  regarded  himself  as  part  of 
a  universe  under  God's  government.  For  the 
joy  of  taking  his  part  in  that  government  he 
steeled  himself  to  a  temper  which  spared  not  his 
own  body  nor  that  of  others.  His  life,  with  all 
its  powers,  was  held  in  trust.  To  the  fulfilment 
of  this  trust  he  subordinated  all  considerations 
of  personal  pleasure. 

Men  are  always  divided  more  or  less  clearly 
into  two  types — those  who  recognize  this  charac- 
ter of  life  as  a  trust  and  those  who  fail  to  recog- 
nize it.  But  not  in  all  ages  and  in  all  countries 
does  the  distinction  between  the  two  types  mani- 
fest itself  sharply  in  historic  action.  For  often 
the  range  of  possible  interests  is  so  small,  and  the 
conduct  of  life  so  bound  down  by  conventions, 
that  the  man  who  would  pursue  pleasure  finds  no 
opportunity  for  adventure,  nor  does  the  man  who 
is  ready  to  accept  large  trusts  find  occasion  for 
their  exercise.  But  in  England,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  discovery  of  new 
worlds  abroad  and  the  development  of  new  prob- 
lems at  home  gave  opportunity  for  this  divergence 


86      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

of  character  to  show  itself  to  the  utmost.  The 
explorer  who  journeyed  for  adventure  or  for  gain 
was  differentiated  from  him  who  journeyed  for 
freedom's  sake.  The  citizen  who  was  ready  to 
seek  his  fullest  enjoyment  in  the  old  political 
order  was  separated  from  him  who  would  hazard 
that  enjoyment  for  what  he  believed  to  be  eternal 
principles  of  human  government.  It  was  because 
England  had  men  of  the  latter  type  that  her  sub- 
sequent progress  as  a  free  nation  has  been  real- 
ized. It  was  the  Puritan,  who,  by  subjecting  his 
power  and  his  love  of  life  to  self-imposed  re- 
straints, made  freedom  possible  in  two  hemi- 
spheres. 

Once  more  we  are  come  to  a  similar  parting  of 
the  ways.  The  close  of  the  nineteenth  century 
has  witnessed  an  expansion  of  the  geographical 
boundaries  of  men's  interests  comparable  only  to 
that  which  came  three  hundred  years  earlier,  in 
the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  It  is  for  the  next 
generation  to  decide  how  these  new  fields  shall 
be  occupied.  Shall  it  be  to  gratify  ambition, 
commercial  and  political?  or  shall  it  be  to  exer- 
cise a  trust  which  has  been  given  us  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  human  race  ?  Shall  we  enter 
upon  our  new  possessions  in  the  spirit  of  the 
adventurer  or  in  the  spirit  of  the  Puritan?  The 
conflict  between  these  two  views  will  be  the  really 
important  issue  in  the  complex  maze  of  inter- 
national relations  during  the  half  century  which 


''FOREFATHERS'  DAY:'  8/ 

IS  to  come.  The  outcome  of  this  conflict  is  likely 
to  determine  the  course  of  the  world's  history  for 
ages  thereafter. 

Nor  is  it  in  international  politics  and  in  prob- 
lems of  colonization  alone  that  this  issue  is  aris- 
ing between  those  who  regard  the  world  as  a 
field  for  pleasure  and  those  who  regard  it  as  a 
place  for  the  exercise  of  a  trust.  The  devel- 
opment of  modern  industry  has  placed  the  alter- 
native even  more  sharply  before  us  in  the  order- 
ing of  our  life  at  home.  The  day  is  past  when 
the  automatic  action  of  self-interest  could  be 
trusted  to  regulate  prices,  or  when  a  few  simple 
principles  of  commercial  law,  if  properly  applied, 
secured  the  exercise  of  justice  in  matters  of 
trade.  The  growth  of  large  industries  and  of 
large  fortunes  enables  those  who  use  them 
rightly  to  do  the  public  much  better  service 
than  was  possible  in  ages  previous.  It  also 
permits  those  who  use  them  wrongly  to  render 
the  public  correspondingly  greater  injury.  No 
system  of  legislation  is  likely  to  meet  this  diffi- 
culty. The  outcome  depends  on  the  character 
of  the  people.  Is  our  business  to  be  dominated 
by  the  spirit  of  the  adventurer,  or  by  the  spirit 
of  the  Puritan  ?  Shall  we  regard  wealth  as  a 
means  of  enjoyment  and  commercial  power  as  a 
plaything  to  be  used  in  the  game  of  personal 
ambition,  or  shall  we  treat  the  fortunes  which 
come  into  our  hands  as  a  trust  to  be  exercised 


88      BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  rigidly  abstaining 
from  its  abuse  ourselves,  and  unsparingly  refus- 
ing to  associate  with  others  who  abuse  it  ?  We 
have  no  right  to  sit  here  this  evening  and  com- 
memorate our  descent  from  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
if  we  have  any  doubt  concerning  our  answer. 
Let  us  throw  ourselves,  heart  and  soul,  on  that 
side  of  the  industrial  question  which  proves  us 
worthy  of  Puritan  ancestry — the  side  which 
regards  wealth  as  a  trust,  to  be  used  in  behalf  of 
the  whole  people  and  in  the  furtherance  of  the 
purposes  of  God's  government. 

Abroad  and  at  home  the  issue  is  defining  itself. 
We  have  the  chance  to  prove  whence  we  sprang. 
We  cannot  add  to  the  glory  of  those  whose 
deeds  we  celebrate,  but  we  can  help  to  carry 
their  work  one  historic  step  further  toward  its 
accomplishment.  In  the  words  of  Abraham 
Lincoln^no  less  appropriate  now  than  on  the 
day  when  they  were  first  spoken  at  Gettysburg 
— "  It  is  for  us  to  be  dedicated  to  the  great  task 
remaining  before  us  ;  that  from  these  honored 
dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  to 
which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devo- 
tion ;  that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead 
shall  not  have  died  in  vain  ;  that  this  Nation, 
under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom ; 
that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the 
earth." 


CITIZENSHIP^  89 

Citizenship. 

Hon.  William  P.  Frye. 

Abridged    for    this    collection    by    Woodbury    Pulsifer, 
Secretary  to  Senator  Frye. 

Citizenship!  What  is  citizenship?  It  has 
a  broader  signification  than  you  or  I  are  apt  to 
give  it.  Citizenship  does  not  mean  alone  that 
the  man  who  possesses  it  shall  be  obedient  to 
the  law,  shall  be  kindly  to  his  neighbors,  shall 
regard  the  rights  of  others,  shall  perform  his 
duties  as  juror,  shall,  if  the  hour  of  peril  comes, 
yield  his  time,  his  property  and  his  life  to  his 
country.  It  means  more  than  that.  It  means 
that  his  country  shall  guarantee  to  him  and  pro- 
tect him  in  every  right  which  the  Constitution 
gives  him.  What  right  has  the  Republic  to 
demand  his  life,  his  property,  in  the  hour  of 
peril,  if,  when  his  hour  of  peril  comes,  it  fails 
him  ?  Why,  a  man  died  in  England  a  few  years 
ago.  Lord  Napier  of  Magdala,  and  his  death 
reminded  me  of  an  incident  which  illustrates 
this,  an  incident  which  gave  that  great  lord  his 
name.  A  few  years  ago  King  Theodore  of 
Abyssinia  seized  Captain  Campbell,  a  British 
citizen,  and  incarcerated  him  in  a  dungeon  on 
the  top  of  a  mountain  nine  thousand  feet  high. 
England  demanded  his  release,  and  King  Theo- 
dore refused.     England  fitted  out   and  sent  on 


90        BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  F. 

five  thousand  English  soldiers,  and  ten  thousand 
Sepoys,  debarked  them  on  the  coast,  marched 
them  nine  hundred  miles  through  swamp  and 
morass  under  a  burning  sun.  Then  they  marched 
up  the  mountain  height,  they  scaled  the  walls, 
they  broke  down  the  iron  gates,  they  reached 
down  into  the  dungeon,  they  took  that  one 
British  citizen  like  a  brand  from  the  burning  and 
carried  him  down  the  mountain  side,  across  the 
morass,  put  him  on  board  the  v/hite-winged  ship 
and  bore  him  away  to  England  in  safety.  That 
cost  Great  Britain  millions  of  dollars,  and  it 
made  General  Napier  Lord  Napier  of  Magdala. 

Was  not  that  a  magnificent  thing  for  a  great 
country  to  do?  Only  think  of  it !  A  country 
that  has  an  eye  sharp  enough  to  see  way  across 
the  ocean,  way  across  the  morass,  way  up  into 
the  mountain  top,  way  down  into  the  dungeon, 
one  citizen,  one  of  her  thirty  millions,  and  then 
has  an  arm  strong  enough  to  reach  across  the 
ocean,  way  across  the  morass,  way  up  the  moun- 
tain height  and  down  into  the  dungeon  and  take 
that  one  and  bear  him  away  home  in  safety. 
Who  would  not  live  and  die,  too,  for  the  country 
that  can  do  that  ?  This  country  of  ours  is  worth 
our  thought,  our  care,  our  labor,  our  lives.  What 
a  magnificent  country  it  is  !  What  a  Republic 
for  the  people,  where  all  are  kings !  Men  of 
great  wealth,  great  power,  great  influence  can 
live  without  any  difficulty  in  a  monarchy ;  but 


CITIZENSHIP.  91 

how  can  you  and  I,  how  can  the  average  man, 
live  under  despotic  power?  Oh,  this  blessed 
Republic  of  ours  stretches  its  hand  down  to  the 
men  and  lifts  them  up,  while  despotism  puts  its 
heavy  hand  on  their  heads  and  presses  them 
down  !  This  blessed  Republic  of  ours  speaks  to 
every  boy  in  the  land,  black  or  white,  rich  or 
poor,  and  asks  him  to  come  up  higher  and  higher. 
You  remember  that  boy  out  here  on  the  prairie, 
the  son  of  a  widowed  mother,  poor,  neglected 
perhaps  by  all  except  the  dear  old  mother.  But 
the  Republic  did  not  neglect  him.  The  Republic 
said  to  that  boy  :  **  Boy,  there  is  a  ladder,  its 
foot  is  on  the  earth,  its  top  is  in  the  sky.  Boy, 
go  up."  And  the  boy  mounted  that  ladder  rung 
by  rung ;  by  the  rung  of  the  free  schools,  by  the 
rung  of  the  academy,  by  the  rung  of  the  college, 
by  the  rung  of  splendid  service  in  the  United 
States  army,  by  the  rung  of  the  United  States 
House  of  Representatives,  by  the  rung  of  the 
United  States  Senate,  by  the  rung  of  the  Pres- 
idency of  the  great  Republic,  by  the  rung  of  a 
patient  sickness  and  a  heroic  death,  until  James 
A.  Garfield  is  a  name  to  be  forever  honored  in 
the  history  of  our  country. 

Now,  is  not  a  Republic  like  that  worth  the 
tribute  of  our  conscience?  Is  it  not  entitled 
to  our  best  thought,  to  our  holiest  purpose? 

Let  us  pledge  ourselves  to  give  it  our  loyal 
service   and   support   until   every    man    in    this 


92      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

Republic,  black  or  wnite,  shall  be  protected  in  all 
the  rights  which  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  bestows  upon  him. 


.Reverence  for  the  Flag. 

Gen.  Horace  Porter. 

In  preserving  among  the  sons  that  spirit  of 
patriotism  which  has  been  handed  down  from 
the  sires,  I  know  of  no  better  method  of  incul- 
cating this  sentiment  in  the  minds  of  the  youth 
of  the  rising  generation  than  an  effort  to  inspire 
them  with  a  still  more  exalted  respect  and  rever- 
ence for  the  flag — that  symbol  of  national  su- 
premacy, that  emblem  of  the  country's  glory. 
They  should  be  taught  that  that  flag  is  not  simply 
a  banner  for  holiday  display  ;  that  it  is  not 
merely  a  piece  of  bunting  which  can  be  pur- 
chased for  a  few  shillings  in  the  nearest  shop, 
but  that  it  is  the  proud  emblem  of  dignity,  au- 
thority, power;  that  if  insulted,  millions  will 
spring  to  its  defense.  They  should  be  taught 
that  as  that  flag  is  composed  of,  and  derives  its 
chief  beauty  from  its  different  colors,  so  should 
its  ample  folds  cover  and  protect  its  citizens  of 
different  color. 

It  is  for  these  reasons  that  I  like  to  see  the 
flags  of  the  war  for  the  integrity  of  the  Union 
carried  through  the  streets  in  the  hands  of  our 


REVERENCE  FOR  THE  FLAG.  93 

veterans  upon  fete  days.  Those  precious  war 
banners,  bullet-riddled,  battle-stained,  many  of 
them  but  remnants  of  their  former  selves,  with 
scarcely  enough  left  of  them  on  which  to  imprint 
the  names  of  the  battles  they  have  seen.  Every 
tattered  shred  which  flutters  in  the  breeze  is  an 
object  lesson  in  patriotism.  The  youth  of  the 
land  should  be  made  to  feel  that  their  country's 
flag  is  to  be  their  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  their 
pillar  of  fire  by  night ;  that  it  is  to  wave  above 
them  in  victory,  be  their  rallying-point  in  defeat, 
and  if,  perchance,  they  offer  up  their  lives  a  sac- 
rifice in  its  defense,  its  crimson  stripes  will  min- 
gle with  their  generous  hearts*  blood  ;  its  gentle 
folds  will  rest  upon  their  bosom  in  death  ;  its 
very  presence  there  upon  their  bodies,  coffined 
or  uncoffined,  will  write  a  more  enduring  epitaph 
than  that  on  the  sarcophagus  in  which  the  great 
Sesostris  sleeps. 

That  flag  should  be  kept  everywhere  in  view. 
It  is  particularly  necessary  in  a  land  like  this,  in 
which  there  are  so  many  who  have  been  reared 
under  foreign  flags,  and  who  cannot  be  made  too 
familiar  with  the  flag  of  the  great  Republic.  I 
think  there  would  be  nothing  more  grateful  to 
the  hearts  of  the  American  people  than  to  have 
it  ordained  by  national  and  State  enactment  that 
the  flag  of  the  country  should  be  hoisted  over 
every  Government  building,  every  public  place, 
every  prominent  memorial,  and    especially  over 


94      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

every  schoolhouse — kept  there  by  day  and  by 
night,  through  cahn  and  through  storm,  and  never 
hauled  down.  At  the  beginning  of  our  last  war  a 
rallying  cry  rang  throughout  the  land,  which 
quickened  every  pulse,  which  made  the  blood 
tingle  in  the  veins  of  every  loyal  citizen — a  rally- 
ing cry  which  we  cannot  too  often  repeat:  "If 
any  man  hauls  down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him 
on  the  spot." 


The  Art  of  Optimism. 

William  De  Witt  Hyde,  LL.  D. 

President  of  Bowdoin   College.       Arranged   by  President 
Hyde  for  this  collection. 

The  world  we  live  in  is  a  world  of  mingled 
good  and  evil.  Whether  it  is  chiefly  good  or 
chiefly  bad  depends  on  how  we  take  it.  To 
look  at  the  world  in  such  a  way  as  to  emphasize 
the  evil  is  the  art  of  pessimism.  To  look  at  it 
in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  out  the  good,  and 
throw  the  evil  into  the  background,  is  the  art  of 
optimism.  The  facts  are  the  same  in  either  case. 
It  is  simply  a  question  of  perspective  and  empha- 
sis. Whether  we  shall  be  optimists  or  pessimists 
depends  partly  on  temperament,  but  chiefly  on 
will.  If  yoii  are  happy  it  is  largely  to  your  own 
credit.     If  you   are   miserable  it   is  chiefly  your 


THE  ART  OF  OPTIMISM,  95 

own  fault.  I  propose  to  show  you  both  pes- 
simism and  optimism ;  give  a  prescription  for 
each,  and  leave  you  to  take  whichever  you  like 
best :  for  whether  you  are  a  pessimist  or  an 
optimist  doesn't  depend  on  whether  the  world 
is  wholly  good  or  wholly  bad,  or  whether  you 
have  a  hard  lot  or  an  easy  one.  It  depends  on 
what  you  like,  and  what  you  want,  and  what 
you  resolve  to  be.  Perchance  you  are  the  most 
fortunate  and  happy  person  among  my  hearers. 
There  are  thousands  of  people  who  would  be 
miserable  were  they  situated  precisely  as  you 
are.  They  would  make  themselves  miserable, 
because  that  is  their  temperament  ;  that  is  their 
way  of  looking  at  things.  And  even  in  your 
happy  and  enviable  condition,  with  all  your 
health  and  wealth,  and  hosts  of  friends,  and 
abundance  of  interests,  they  would  find  plenty  of 
stuff  to  make  their  misery  out  of.  On  the  other 
hand,  you  may  be  the  person  of  all  others  among 
my  hearers  who  has  the  hardest  time,  who  has 
lost  dearest  friends,  who  has  the  severest  struggle 
with  poverty,  who  has  worst  enemies,  who  meets 
crudest  unkindness,  who  seems  to  have  least  to 
live  for.  Thousands  of  people  would  be  suprem- 
ely happy  if  they  were  in  precisely  your  circum- 
stances. Life  is  like  the  ocean.  It  drowns  one 
man,  because  he  yields  to  it  passively  and  blindly. 
It  buoys  up  the  other  because  he  strikes  it  skil- 
fully, and  buffets  it  with  lusty  sinews. 


96      BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

There  is  enough  that  is  bad  in  every  life  to 
make  one  miserable  who  is  so  inclined.  We  all 
know  people  who  have  plenty  to  eat,  a  roof  over 
their  heads,  a  soft  bed  to  lie  in,  money  in  the 
bank  to  cover  all  probable  needs  for  the  rest  of 
their  days,  plenty  of  friends,  good  social  position, 
an  unbroken  family  circle,  good  education,  even 
the  profession  of  some  sort  of  religion  ;  who  yet 
by  magnifying  something  that  happened  to 
them  a  long  while  ago ;  or  something  that  may 
happen  to  them  at  some  time  to  come  ;  or  what 
somebody  has  said  about  them ;  or  the  work 
they  have  to  do  ;  or  the  slight  some  one  has 
shown  them,  or  even  without  anything  as  definite 
as  even  these  trifles,  contrive  to  make  themselves 
and  everybody  else  perpetually  wretched  and 
uncomfortable.  These  people  have  acquired  the 
art  of  pessimism. 

Practically,  anybody  can  be  a  pessimist  who 
wants  to.  The  art  is  easily  acquired.  Here  are 
the  rules  for  it. 

Live  in  the  passive  voice  ;  intent  on  what  you 
can  get,  rather  than  on  what  you  can  do  :  in  the 
subjunctive  mood  ;  meditating  on  what  might  be, 
rather  than  what  actually  is:  in  the  past  or  fu- 
ture tense ;  either  harping  on  what  has  been,  or 
worrying  about  what  will  be,  rather  than  facing 
the  facts  of  the  present:  in  the  third  person; 
finding  fault  with  other  people  instead  of  setting 
your  own  affairs  in  order:  in  the  plural  number; 


THE  ART  OF  OPTIMISM.  9/ 

following  the  standards  of  respectability  of  other 
people  rather  than  your  own  perception  of  what 
is  fit  and  proper. 

Keep  these  rules  faithfully,  always  measuring 
the  worth  of  life  in  terms  of  personal  pleasure, 
rather  than  in  terms  of  growth  of  character  or 
service  of  high  ends,  and  you  will  be  a  pessimist 
before  you  know  it.  For  pessimism  is  the  logi- 
cal and  inevitable  outcome  of  that  way  of  look- 
ing at  life. 

A  sound  optimism  accepts  with  open  eyes  all 
the  hard  facts  on  which  pessimism  builds.  En- 
joyment is  fleeting.  Nothing  can  permanently 
satisfy  us.  As  Browning  said  to  an  artist  who 
complained  that  he  was  so  dissatisfied  with  what 
he  had  done,  "  But  think,  if  you  were  satisfied, 
how  little  you  would  be  satisfied  with  !  "  Optim- 
ism proclaims  this  very  incapacity  of  ours  to  be 
satisfied  with  anything  finite,  the  glory  of  our 
nature,  the  promise  and  potency  of  our  progress 
and  development,  the  assurance  of  our  immortal- 
ity. If  good  is  satisfied  feeling,  which  is  to  be 
given  to  us  ready-made,  then  indeed  we  shall 
never  get  it,  and  pessimism  is  the  ultimate  truth. 
If  good  is  a  state  of  eager  and  enthusiastic  activ- 
ity of  will,  then  this  world  of  ours  is  just  the  best 
place  imaginable  to  give  field  for  this  activity. 

Having  given  rules  for  the  art  of  pessimism,  I 
suppose  I  ought  to  be  equally  explicit  in  regard 
to  optimism.     I  will  here  again  adopt  the  easily 


98      BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TJONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

rememberable  form  in  which  the  rules  for  pessim- 
ism were  cast.  Indeed,  the  rules  for  optimism 
are  simply  the  inverse  of  the  rules  for  pessimism. 
Live  in  the  active  voice ;  intent  on  what  you 
can  do  rather  than  on  what  happens  to  you  :  in 
the  indicative  mood ;  concerned  with  facts  as 
they  are  rather  than  as  they  might  be  :  in  the 
present  tense;  concentrated  on  the  duty  in  hand, 
without  regret  for  the  past  or  worry  about  the 
future:  in  the  first  person;  criticising  yourself 
rather  than  condemning  others  :  in  the  singular 
number;  seeking  the  approval  of  your  own  con- 
science rather  than  popularity  with  the  many. 
Whoever  lives  the  life  of  such  unselfish  devotion 
to  the  good  of  others  and  of  all,  and  lives  it  in 
the  active  voice,  indicative  mood,  present  tense, 
first  person,  singular  number,  is  bound  to  find 
his  life  full  and  rich  and  glad  and  free ;  is  bound, 
in  other  words,  to  be  an  optimist. 


The  New  Era  in  Higher  Education. 

James  B.  Angell,  LL.  D. 
President  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 
It  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  our  in- 
creased facilities  for  higher  education  and  any 
new  enthusiasm  which  these  may  engender  for 
devotion  to  scholarship,  shall  not  be  permitted  to 
make  students  indifferent  to  their  duty  as 
educated  citizens  or  rob  them  of  their  interest  in 


THE  NEW  ERA  IN  HIGHER  EDUCA  TION.        99 

public  affairs.  The  universities  must  not  become 
monasteries,  in  which  men  are  trained  to  exclude 
themselves  from  proper  participation  in  the  right 
guidance  of  public  opinion.  They  who  are  known 
as  professional  politicians  sometimes  have  their 
jests  at  "  the  scholar  in  politics."  Doubtless  he 
has,  like  other  men,  sometimes  made  mistakes. 
Perhaps  he  has  occasionally  overrated  the  value 
of  his  services.  Very  often  while  pursuing  a 
manly  and  straightforward  course,  he  has  been 
outwitted  and  circumvented  by  the  cunning 
schemers  who  call  themselves  practical  politicians, 
because  they  do  not  scruple  to  employ  means  to 
which  he  will  not  descend. 

But  no  thoughtful  man  will  deny  that  scholars 
as  citizens  have  at  least  as  plain  and  responsible 
duties  as  other  citizens.  Nor  will  it  be  easy  to 
deny  that  if  by  reason  of  their  training  they  have 
some  special  advantages  for  instructing  and  guid- 
ing others  in  the  solution  of  grave  public  ques- 
tions, they  have  by  this  fact  a  special  responsibil- 
ity and  duty  laid  on  them. 

Now,  if  anything  is  obvious,  if  anything  has 
been  demonstrated  by  the  history  of  this  govern- 
ment, it  is  that  our  democratic  institutions  cannot 
be  successfully  worked,  unless  we  can  somehow 
secure  the  prevalence  of  an  intelligent  public 
opinion  on  public  matters  and  a  general  willing- 
ness on  the  part  of  our  citizens  to  offer  whatever 
sacrifices  and  render  whatever  services  are  re- 
quired to  make  that  public  opinion  operative. 


ICXD  BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY, 

Men  have  been  very  busy  in  devising  various 
kinds  of  constitutional  or  legislative  machinery 
to  secure  wise  legislation  and  just  and  effective 
administration.  But  no  improvements  in  organ- 
ization, no  contrivances,  however  ingenious,  can 
insure  us  a  pure  democratic  government,  unless 
we  have  an  enlightened  public  opinion  and  a 
patriotic  spirit  guiding  and  sustaining  it  in  all  its 
life. 

Says  Lord  Rosebery  in  a  recent  speech,  in 
which  he  urges  upon  his  countrymen  the  impor- 
tance of  providing  more  generously  for  education, 
"■  a  great,  trained  and  intelligent  population, 
capable  of  sustained  thinking  on  public  questions, 
is  essential  to  success  in  the  modern  world." 

Now  there  is  a  certain  danger  that  men,  who 
become  absorbed  in  literary  or  scientific  pursuits, 
lose  somewhat  of  the  interest,  which  it  is  their 
duty  to  cherish,  in  public  affairs  or  at  any  rate 
refrain  from  making  the  weight  of  their  well- 
considered  judgment  felt  by  those  around  them. 
They  may  indeed  seek  no  official  position,  and 
may  shrink  from  it  if  it  is  offered  to  them.  They 
may  prefer  not  to  engage  in  the  rough  and  tum- 
ble contests  of  bitter  personal  campaigns,  though 
even  this  may  at  times  become  the  duty  of  every 
good  citizen.  But  in  some  manner,  through 
some  one  of  the  many  channels  of  influence  open 
to  every  intelligent  man,  they  should  make  their 
legitimate  contribution  toward  the  creation  of  a 


NE  W  ERA  IN  HIGIJER  ED  UCA  TION.  I O I 

sound  public  sentiment  in  every  emergency.  If 
the  maintenance  of  such  a  sentiment  is  the  essen- 
tial condition  of  the  successful  operation  of 
Republican  institutions,  how  can  the  best  trained 
minds  plead  any  excuse  for  failure  to  do  their 
full  part  in  creating  and  upholding  and  manifest- 
ing such  a  sentiment  in  every  hour  of  the 
country's  need  ? 

There  could  be  no  greater  calamity  for  the 
universities  than  for  the  belief  to  gain  ground 
that  the  education  they  furnish  to  their  choicest 
and  most  gifted  graduates  shuts  them  off  from 
a  living  sympathy  and  fellowship  with  the  great 
body  of  their  countrymen  who  have  not  had  the 
fortune  to  share  their  advantages  of  training,  and 
from  a  vital  interest  in  a  pure  and  beneficent 
administration  of  government.  It  would  be  a 
calamity  to  the  nation  to  have  such  a  wall  of 
partition  between  the  scholars  and  the  rest  of  the 
people.  But  it  would,  if  permitted,  be  a  yet 
greater  misfortune  for  the  universities  which  had 
begotten  such  children. 

There  is,  indeed,  little  danger  of  such  a  calamity 
in  very  great  national  emergencies.  The  read- 
iness* with  which  in  our  Civil  War  the  college 
halls  were  deserted  by  the  thousands  of  young 
men,  who  hastened  to  the  front,  many  of  them, 
alas !  never  to  return,  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  this. 
The  peril  is  in  quieter  days,  when  it  is  not  so 
obvious  that  the  vigilant  interest  of  all  is  needed 


I02   BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

to  safeguard  the  public  welfare,  and  when,  there- 
fore, the  scholar  in  the  sweet  seclusion  of  his 
study  is  tempted  to  let  things  drift  wheresoever 
they  will,  without  any  remonstrance  on  his  part. 
We  may  confidently  look  for  two  results  of 
the  magnificent  endowments  of  universities  and 
institutions  of  research.  The  number  of  gifted 
men  and  women  who  will  devote  themselves  to 
very  advanced  studies  and  to  original  investiga- 
tions in  every  field  of  research  will  be  largely 
increased.  And  the  boundaries  of  knowledge 
will  be  expanded.  Rich  as  the  last  century  has 
been  beyond  all  the  centuries  in  important  gains 
in,  every  branch  of  learning,  in  the  discovery  of 
scientific  principles,  and  in  the  application  of 
science  to  the  arts  of  life,  it  is  reasonable  to 
expect  that  the  gains  of  the  present  century  will 
be  yet  greater.  Happy  are  you  who  are  young 
enough  to  cherish  the  hope  of  living  to  see  them. 
Happier  still  are  those  choice  spirits  among  you, 
— and  I  trust  there  are  some — who  may  be  con- 
spicuous in  securing  those  gains  for  humanity. 


Decoration  Day. 

Abridged. 

Hon.  W,  Bourke  Cockran. 

The  character  of  a  nation   is  often  known  by 

its  festivals.     The   character  of   the  festival  we 

celebrate  to-day  is  the  most  unique  in  the  his- 


DECORA  TION  DA  V.  IO3 

tory  of  the  world.  We  celebrate  in  all  its  en- 
tirety the  sublime  epoch  when  fidelity  to  the 
Republic  triumphed  over  the  dangers  that  com- 
prised the  Civil  War,  and  we  emerged  from  the 
conflict  radiant  with  the  light  of  liberty  estab- 
lished and  indestructible  American  institutions, 
with  the  undying  vigor  of  American  patriotism. 
The  conflict  in  which  we  engaged  was  not  made 
by  the  generation  in  which  we  live.  It  was  a 
legacy  handed  down  by  the  fathers  of  the  Re- 
public after  the  foreign  invader  had  been  driven 
out. 

But  the  Union  soldier  was  great  in  peace  as 
well  as  in  war.  His  was  not  merely  a  triumph  of 
arms  ;  it  was  a  triumph  of  heart  and  mind,  for 
the  Union  soldier  won  the  love  of  the  foe  that  he 
vanquished.  To-day,  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  country,  there  is  a  love  for  the 
flag  of  the  Union.  To-day  the  Union  stands,  not 
defended  by  armed  force  or  by  frowning  for- 
tresses. Its  foundations  are  laid  in  the  hearts  of 
our  citizens.  South  as  well  as  North,  and  it  will 
be  durable  and  eternal  because  of  that  founda- 
tion. But  although  the  vigor  of  the  Union 
soldier  in  taking  up  arms  was  creditable  to  him, 
he  also  deserves  credit  for  the  manner  in  which 
he  laid  down  his  arms.  Never  before  did  a  vic- 
torious army  so  lay  down  its  arms  at  the  behest 
of  civil  rulers  without  the  slightest  disturbance 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 


104  BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

The  lesson  which  this  day  teaches  above  all 
others  is  that  no  matter  what  difficulties  may 
arise,  the  patriotism  of  this  republic  will  be  able 
to  surmount  them.  No  matter  what  dangers 
may  threaten  our  institutions,  there  is  always  to 
be  in  reserve  the  American  patriotism  sufficient 
to  solve  every  question  and  surmount  every  diffi- 
culty. The  victory  of  the  Union  soldiers  proved 
the  capacity  and  the  power  of  this  patriotism 
which  underlies  American  citizenship.  No 
sooner  had  the  smoke  lifted  from  Southern 
battlefields  ;  no  sooner  had  the  rivers  that  had 
run  red  with  blood  once  more  resumed  their 
course  clear  and  pellucid  to  the  sea,  and  the 
South  was  seen  humbled,  than  the  men  of  the 
North  turned  with  charity  and  brotherly  love  to 
the  aid  of  the  men  with  whom  they  had  fought. 
The  victory  which  was  achieved  for  the  Union  was 
thus  made  a  permanent  one  for  the  union  of  these 
States. 

The  lesson  of  the  Union  was  not  ended  in  1865. 
The  mission  of  the  Union  soldier  did  not  close 
with  the  war.  It  continues  to-day  as  a  patriot- 
ism which  is  the  best  security  of  the  government. 
We  are  reminded  of  the  survivors  as  we  turn  to- 
day from  the  graves  of  the  brave  men  who  were 
the  heroes  of  the  war. 

On  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  surmounting 
the  great  dome  where  Congress  is  in  session,  there 
may  be  seen  a  bright  light  high  above  all  else  on 


PROFIT  OF  THE  LABORER  AND  CONSUMER.     IO5 

the  building.  And  as  you  recede  from  the  place, 
and  the  turrets  and  fluted  columns  of  the  edifice 
disappear  in  the  darkness,  the  light  at  the  top 
seems  to  be  higher  and  higher,  and  finally  seems 
to  blend  with  the  horizon  until  finally  only  this 
light  marks  the  temple  of  freedom  of  our  be- 
loved Government.  And,  as  we  celebrate  this 
Decoration  Day,  looking  back  on  the  martyrs  of 
the  Civil  War,  their  deeds  shall  be  to  us  the 
brilliant  light  which  shall  grow  ever  brighter  and 
brighter,  and  illumine  the  pathway  of  the  Repub- 
lic to  liberty,  prosperity,  and  happiness. 


The  Profit  of  the  Laborer  and  Consumer. 

Abridged. 
Hon.  Elihu  Root. 

The  industrial  history  of  the  last  half  century 
is  a  history  first  of  the  steady  increase  of  produc- 
tive power,  and  second  only  to  that  of  the  con- 
tinual struggle  between  these  four  interests — the 
brains,  the  capital,  the  laborer,  and  the  consumer, 
to  secure  what  each  considers  to  be  a  fair  share 
of  the  benefits  of  the  increased  wealth.  That 
struggle  will  continue  so  long  as  the  increase  of 
productive  power  and  the  added  increments  of 
wealth  that  come  from  that  increase  continue. 
Capital  and  brains  always  get  the  advantage  at 
first.     The  first  fruits   of   each    new  increase  of 


I06   BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

productive  power,  whether  through  invention  or 
through  organization,  come  to  them.  But  our 
industrial  history  shows  that  the  laborer  and  the 
consumer  slowly  but  surely  wrest  their  share  of 
the  advantage  from  capital  and  secure  it  for 
themselves.  The  organizers  of  the  Sugar  Trust 
made  a  great  deal  of  money  for  themselves,  but 
we  are  getting  sugar  now  for  less  than  it  cost  to 
make  it  before  the  Sugar  Trust  was  formed. 
The  organizers  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
have  made  a  great  deal  of  money,  but  the  poor- 
est American  farmer  is  lighting  his  little  house 
to-night  at  trifling  cost  more  brilliantly  than 
palaces  were  lighted  a  century  ago  :  and  these 
are  the  consumers'  shares  of  the  wealth  created 
by  the  brains  and  capital  of  the  Sugar  Company 
and  the  Standard  Oil  Company. 

The  continually  recurring  contests  between 
capital  and  labor  are  a  necessary  part  in  this 
great  process  of  industrial  development  and  dis- 
tribution of  wealth — each  striving  to  get  what  it 
thinks  to  be  its  share  and  naturally  differing 
about  the  proportions.  There  is  no  occasion  to 
groan  or  to  wring  our  hands  or  to  be  alarmed 
over  the  process.  It  is  natural  and  healthy  and 
a  process  of  industrial  improvement.  Of  course 
there  are  wrongs  committed,  unjustifiable  and  ir- 
ritating things  are  done  upon  both  sides,  but 
these  are  continually  being  remedied  and  just  re- 
sults are  continually    being  wrought  out.      We 


PROFIT  OF  THE  LABORER  AND  CONSUMER.    lO/ 

are  in  the  habit  of  saying  that  the  interests  of 
capital  and  labor  are  one,  or  that  they  are  recip- 
rocal, which  is  another  way  of  saying  the  same 
thing.  Their  interests  are  one  in  the  production 
of  wealth,  and  their  interests  are  reciprocal  in 
not  beins:  so  unreasonable  about  the  division  of 
the  benefits  as  to  stop  the  production. 

There  is  a  continual  approach  toward  a  good 
understanding  of  the  terms  and  relations  which 
are  dictated  by  a  recognition  of  these  mutual 
and  reciprocal  interests.  If  you  will  look  back 
at  the  condition  of  the  railroad  business  at  the 
time  of  the  Debs  riots,  then  consider  the  rela- 
tions since  established  between  the  railroad 
owners  and  the  associated  engineers,  firemen, 
trainmen  and  conductors  under  the  leadership  of 
Mr.  Arthur,  Mr.  Sargent,  Mr.  Clarke  and  Mr. 
Morrissey,  you  will  see  a  striking  illustration  of 
the  progress  being  made. 

Another  good  illustration  is  to  be  found  in  the 
agreement  made  the  other  day  between  the  tin 
plate  manufacturers  and  their  workmen,  in  which 
the  workmen  voluntarily  agreed  to  a  reduction 
of  wages  in  order  to  enable  the  manufacturers 
to  underbid  foreign  competitors  for  the  contract 
to  supply  tin  cans  for  the  Standard  Oil  product. 

Another  illustration  is  the  agreement  between 
employers  and  employed  for  the  annual  readjust- 
ment of  wages  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
the  bituminous  coal  field. 


Io8    BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

The  more  intelligent  the  parties  are,  the  more 
readily  such  relations  are  reached,  and  as  we  are 
all  growing  more  intelligent,  all  learning  all  the 
time,  the  prospect  is  not  dark,  but  bright. 


The  "Open  Door"  Policy  in  China. 

Hon.  Cushman  K.  Davis. 

The  subjection  of  China  to  full  intercourse 
with  Western  civilization  is  the  most  stupendous 
secular  event  since  the  discovery  of  America  by 
Columbus. 

No  diplomatic  achievement  in  our  history,  ex- 
cepting the  treaty  negotiated  by  Franklin  by 
which  our  independence  was  acknowledged,  and 
the  conventions  by  which  Louisiana  and  the 
Provinces  of  Mexico  were  acquired,  can  be  placed 
before  this  negotiation.  It  did  not  expand  our 
possession,  but  it  will  expand  our  influence  and 
ascendency  immeasurably.  It  is  the  result,  how- 
ever, of  the  two  expansions  as  to  Louisiana  and 
Mexico,  and  of  the  acquisition  of  the  Philip- 
pines, Alaska  and  Hawaii,  without  which  the 
United  States  would  have  been  the  most  remote 
from,  instead  of  being  as  it  is  now,  the  nearest  of 
all  the  nations  to  the  great  Asiatic  market. 
These  negotiations  bound  all  the  powers  recipro- 
cally to  identity  and  equality  of  right  and  duty 
as  to  everything  which  can  pertain  to  commerce 
and  intercourse  with  China. 


THE  "  OPEN  DOOR  "  POLICY  IN  CHINA.       IO9 

The  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  has 
been  expanded  immensely  by  the  war  with  Spain. 
I  believe  that  for  this  the  American  people  were 
ordained.  There  need  be  no  fear  for  the  future. 
No  administration  will  ever  attempt,  it  will  not 
be  permitted  by  the  controlling  majesty  of  that 
people  to  attempt,  to  contract  that  sovereignty 
within  the  limits  from  which  it  has  expanded, 
bearing  with  it  all  the  imperial  powers  of  right- 
eous government,  regenerating  civilization  and 
irreversible  progress. 

With  all  this  the  United  States  will,  as  always 
heretofore,  stand  for  peace.  It  is  as  true  of  na- 
tions as  it  is  of  the  smallest  villages,  or  of  two 
families,  or  of  two  men,  that  peace  is  secured  by 
obedience  to  that  precept  of  righteous  selfishness 
— **  mind  your  own  business."  We  shall  attend 
to  our  own  affairs.  We  shall  not  entangle  our- 
selves in  the  controversies  of  European  States ; 
nor,  by  any  unfriendly  act,  intermeddle  with  that 
which  does  not  concern  us.  Those  states  will 
fight  to  the  utterance  their  own  wars  in  their 
own  way,  and  be  judges  for  themselves  of  the 
causes  for  which  those  wars  shall  be  waged. 

The  United  States  is  the  great  armed  Neutral 
of  the  world.  It  will  have  peace,  not  as  the  boon 
of  a  suppliant  non-combatant,  but  as  the  right  of 
a  peace-loving,  armored,  puissant  nation  whose 
rights  are  secured  by  its  manifest  ability  to  cause 
other  nations  to  respect  them. 


I  lO       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  K 

k 

John  Marshall. 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Used  by  permission. 

As  we  walk  down  Court  Street,  Boston,  in  the 
midst  of  a  jostling  crowd,  our  eyes  are  like  to 
fall  upon  the  small,  dark  building  that  stands  at 
the  head  of  State  Street,  and,  like  an  ominous 
reef,  divides  the  stream  of  business  in  its  course 
to  the  gray  cliffs  that  tower  beyond.  And,  who- 
ever we  may  be,  we  may  chance  to  pause  and 
forget  our  hurry  for  a  moment,  as  we  remember 
that  the  first  waves  that  foretold  the  coming 
storm  of  the  Revolution  broke  around  that  reef. 

In  that  old  State  House,  we  remember,  James 
Otis  argued  the  case  of  the  writs  of  assistance, 
and  in  that  argument  laid  one  of  the  foundations 
for  American  constitutional  law.  Just  as  that 
little  building  is  not  diminished  but  rather  is 
enhanced  and  glorified  by  the  vast  structures 
which  somehow  it  turns  into  a  background,  so 
the  beginnings  of  our  national  life,  lose  none  of 
their  greatness  by  contrast  with  all  the  mighty 
things  of  later  date,  beside  which,  by  every  law 
of  number  and  measure,  they  ought  to  seem  so 
small.  To  those  who  took  part  in  the  Civil 
War,  the  greatest  battle  of  the  Revolution 
seems  little  more  than  a  reconnoissance  in  force, 
and    Lexington  and    Concord  were    mere  skir- 


JOHN  MARSHALL,  1 1 1 

mi^hes  that  would  not  find  mention  in  the  news- 
papers. Yet  veterans  who  have  known  battle  on 
a  modern  scale,  are  not  less  aware  of  the  spiritual 
significance  of  those  little  fights,  than  the 
enlightened  children  of  commerce  who  tell  us 
that  soon  war  is  to  be  no  more. 

If  I  were  to  think  of  John  Marshall  simply  by 
number  and  measure  in  the  abstract,  I  miglit 
hesitate  in  my  superlatives  just  as  I  should 
hesitate  over  the  battle  of  Brandywine  if  I 
thought  of  it  apart  from  its  place  in  the  line  of 
historic  cause.  It  is  most  idle  to  take  a  man 
apart  from   the  circumstances  which  were  his. 

Remove  a  square  inch  of  mucous  membrane, 
and  the  tenor  will  sing  no  more.  Remove  a 
little  cube  from  the  brain,  and  the  orator  will  be 
speechless  ;  or  another,  and  the  brave,  generous, 
and  profound  spirit  becomes  a  querulous  trifler. 
A  great  man  represents  a  great  ganglion  in  the 
nerves  of  society,  or  to  vary  the  figure,  a  strat- 
egic point  in  the  campaign  of  history,  and  part 
of  his  greatness  consists  in  his  being  there. 

There  fell  to  Marshall  perhaps  the  greatest 
place  that  was  ever  filled  by  a  judge  ;  but  when 
I  consider  his  might,  his  justice,  and  his  wisdom, 
I  do  fully  believe  that  if  American  law  were  to 
be  represented  by  a  single  figure,  sceptic  and 
worshipper  alike  would  agree  without  dispute 
that  the  figure  could  be  but  one  alone,  and  that 
one  John  Marshall. 


1 1 2       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

We  live  by  symbols,  and  what  shall  be  sym- 
bolized by  any  image  of  the  sight  depends  upon 
the  mind  of  him  who  sees  it.  The  setting  aside 
of  this  day  in  honor  of  a  great  judge  may  stand 
to  a  Virginian  for  the  glory  of  his  glorious  State  ; 
to  a  patriot  for  the  fact  that  time  has  been  on 
Marshall's  side,  and  that  the  theory  for  which 
Hamilton  argued,  and  Webster  spoke,  and  Grant 
fought,  and  Lincoln  died,  is  now  our  corner  stone. 
To  the  more  abstract  but  farther-reaching  contem- 
plation of  the  lawyer  it  stands  for  the  rise  of  a 
new  body  of  Jurisprudence,  by  which  guiding 
principles  are  raised  above  the  reach  of  statute 
and  State,  and  judges  are  intrusted  with  a  solemn, 
and  hitherto  unheard  of  authority  and  duty.  To 
one  who  lives  in  what  may  seem  to  him  a  solitude 
of  thought,  this  day — as  it  marks  the  triumph  of 
a  man  whom  some  Presidents  of  his  time  bade 
carry  out  his  judgments  as  he  could — this  day 
marks  the  fact  that  all  thought  is  social,  is  on  its 
way  to  action ;  that,  to  borrow  the  expression  of 
a  French  writer,  every  idea  tends  to  become  first 
a  catechism  and  then  a  code  ;  and  that,  accord 
ing  to  its  worth  his  unhelped  meditation  may  one 
day  mount  a  throne,  and  without  armies,  or  with 
them,  may  shoot  across  the  world  the  electric 
despotism  of  an  unresisted  power.  It  is  all  a 
symbol,  if  you  like,  but  so  is  the  flag.  The  flag 
is  but  a  bit  of  bunting  to  one  who  insists  on  prose. 
Yet,  thanks  to  Marshall,  and  to  the  men  of  his 


THE   UPLIFTING   OF  THE  NEGRO  RACE.     II3 

generation,  its  red  is  our  life-blood,  its  stars  our 
world,  its  blue  our  heaven.  It  owns  our  land. 
At  will  it  throws  away  our  lives. 


)f 


The  Uplifting  of  the  Negro  Race. 

Booker  T.  Washington. 
Abridged.     Contributed  by  the  author. 

One-third  of  the  population  of  the  South  is 
of  the  Negro  race.  No  enterprise  seeking  the 
material,  civil,  or  moral  welfare  of  this  section  can 
disregard  this  element  of  our  population  and 
reach  the  highest  success.  Ignorant  and  inexpe- 
rienced, it  is  not  strange  that  in  the  first  years  of 
our  new  life  we  began  at  the  top  instead  of  at  the 
bottom  ;  that  a  seat  in  Congress  or  the  State 
Legislature  was  sought  more  than  real  estate  or 
industrial  skill ;  that  the  political  convention  or 
stump  speaking  had  more  attractions  than  start- 
ing a  dairy  farm  or  truck  garden. 

A  ship  lost  at  sea  for  many  days  suddenly 
sighted  a  friendly  vessel.  From  the  mast  of  the 
unfortunate  vessel  was  seen  a  signal :  **  Water, 
water  ;  we  die  of  thirst !  "  The  answer  from  the 
friendly  vessel  at  once  came  back :  "  Cast  down 
your  bucket  where  you  are.'*  A  second  time  the 
signal,  "  Water,  water ;  send  us  water!"  ran  up 
from  the  distressed  vessel,  and  was  answered : 
"  Cast  down  your  bucket  where  you  are."     And 


1 14       BEST  AMERICAN  OKA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

a  third  and  fourth  signal  for  water  was  answered  : 
"  Cast  down  your  bucket  where  you  are."  The 
captain  of  the  distressed  vessel,  at  last  heeding 
the  injunction,  cast  down  his  bucket,  and  it  came 
up  full  of  fresh,  sparkling  water  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Amazon  River.  To  those  of  my  race  who 
depend  on  bettering  their  condition  in  a  foreign 
land,  or  who  underestimate  the  importance  of 
cultivating  friendly  relations  with  the  Southern 
white  man,  who  is  their  next  door  neighbor,  I 
would  say  :  "  Cast  down  your  bucket  where  you 
are  " — cast  it  down  in  making  friends  in  every 
manly  way  of  the  people  of  all  races  by  whom 
V  ^  /       we  are  surrounded. 

Cast  it  down  in  agriculture,  mechanics,  in  com- 
L  merce,  in  domestic  service,  and  in  the  professions^ 
And  in  this  connection  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind 
that  whatever  other  sins  the  South  may  be  called 
to  bear,  when  it  comes  to  business,  pure  and 
simple,  it  is  in  the  South  that  the  Negro  is  given 
a  man's  chance  in  the  commercial  world.  Our 
greatest  danger  is,  that  in  the  great  leap  from 
slavery  to  freedom,  we  may  overlook  the  fact 
that  the  masses  of  us  are  to  live  by  the  produc- 
tions of  our  hands,  and  fail  to  keep  in  mind  that  we 
shall  prosper  in  proportion  as  we  learn  to  dignify 
and  glorify  common  labor,  and  put  brains  and 
skill  into  the  common  occupations  of  life  ;  shall 
prosper  in  proportion  as  we  learn  to  draw  the 
line  between  the  superficial  and  the  substantial, 


THE  UPLIFTING  OF  THE  NEGRO  RACE.        1 15 

the  ornamental  gewgaws  of  life  and  the  useful. 
.^^  race  can  prosper  until  it  learns  that  there  is 
as  much  dignity  in  tilling  a  field  as  in  writing  a 
poem.  It  is  at  the  bottom  of  life  we  must  begin, 
and  not  at  the  top.     Nor  should  we  permit  our 

r)/^riev^ces  to  overshadow  our  opportunities./ 
-^fo  those  of  the  white  race  who  look  tQ-ahe  in- 
coming of  those  of  foreign  birth  and  strange 
tongue  and  habits  for  the  prosperity  of  the  South, 
were  I  permitted,  I  would  repeat  what  I  say  to 
my  own  race,  "  Cast  down  your  bucket  where 
you  are."  Cast  it  down  among  the  eight  milHon 
Negroes  whose  habits  you  know,  whose  fidelity 
and  love  you  have' tested  in  days  when  to  have 
proved   treacherous  meant  the  ruin  of  your  fire- 

cC)sideSj^Cast  down  your  bucket  among  these 
people  who  have,  without  strikes  and  labor  wars, 
tilled  your  fields,  cleared  your  forest,  builded 
your  railroads  and  cities,  and  brought  forth 
treasures  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  helped 
make  possible  this  magnificent  representation  of 
the  progress  of  the  South,  tasting  down  your 
bucket  among  my  people,  helping  and  encourag- 
ing them  as  you  are  doing  on  these  grounds,  and 
to  education  of  head,  hand,  and  heart,  you  will 
find  that  they  will  buy  your  surplus  land,  make 
blossom  the  waste  places  in  your  fields,  and  run 
your  factories.  While  doing  this,  you  can  be 
sure  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  that  you  and 
your   families   will  be  surrounded  by  the    most 


1 1 6       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  K. 

»    patient,    faithful,    law   abiding,   and   unresentful 

tS^  people    that  the   world    has   seen.  (As   we  have 

proved  our  loyalty  to  you  in  the  past,  in  nursing 

your  children,  watching  by  the  sick-bed  of  your 

mothers  and   fathers,  and  often    following  them 

with  tear-dimmed  eyes  to  their  graves,  so  in  the 

future,  in  our  humble  way,  we  shall  stand  by  you 

with  a  devotion  that  no  foreigner  can   approach, 

ready  to  lay  down  our  lives,  if  need  be,  in  defense 

of  yours;  interlacing  our  industrial,  commercial, 

civil,  and  religious  life  with  yours  in  a  way  tha4?^ 

shall  make  the  interests  of  both  races  one^)^n 

all    things    that    are    purely  social  we  can  be  as 

vv    separate  as  the  fingers,  yet  one  as  the  hand  in  all 

r\/    things  essential  to  mutual  progress^^ 

There  is  no  defense  or  security  for  any  of  us 
except  in  the  highest  intelligence  and  develop- 
ment of  all.  If  anywhere  there  are  efforts  tend- 
ing to  curtail  the  fullest  growth  of  the  Negro,  let 
these  efforts  be  turned  into  stimulating,  encourag- 
ing and  making  him  the  most  useful  and  intelli- 
gent citizen.  Effort  or  rneans  so  invested  will 
pay  a  thousand  per  cent,  interest.  These  efforts 
will  be  twice  blessed — '*  blessing  him  that  gives 
and  him  that  takes." 

There  is  no  escape  through  law  of  man  or  God 
from  the  inevitable  : 

**  The  laws  of  changeless  justice  bind, 
Oppressor  with  oppressed ; 
And  close  as  sin  and  suffering  joined. 
We  march  to  fate  abreast." 


THE  UPLIFTING  OF  THE  NEGRO  RACE,         1 1/ 

Nearly  sixteen  millions  of  hands  will  aid  you 
in  pulling  the  load  upwards,  or  they  will  pull 
against  you  the  load  downwards.  We  shall  con- 
stitute one-third  and  more  of  the  ignorance  and 
crime  of  the  South,  or  one-third  of  its  intelligence 
and  progress  ;  we  shall  contribute  one-third  to 
the  business  and  industrial  prosperity  of  the 
South,  or  we  shall  prove  a  veritable  body  of  death, 
stagnating,  depressing,  retarding  every  effort  to 
advarjce  the  body  politic. 

-"llie  wisest  among  my  race  understand  that  the 
agitation  of  questions  of  social  equality  is  the 
extremest  folly,  and  that  progress  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  all  the  privileges  that  will  come  to  us, 
must  be  the  result  of  severe  and  constant  struggle, 
rather  than  of  artificial  forcing.  No  race  that  has 
anything  to  contribute  to  the  markets  of  the 
world  is  long  in  any  degree  ostracised.  It  is  im- 
portant and  right  that  all  privileges  of  the  law  be 
ours,  but  it  is  vastly  more  important  that  we  be 
prepared  for  the  exercise  of  these  privileges.  The 
opportunity  to  earn  a  dollar  in  a  factory  just  now 
is  worth  infinitely  more  than  the  opportunity  to 
spend  a  dollar  in  an  opera  house. 

In  conclusion/l  pledge  that  in  your  effort  to 
work  out  the  great  aft4-4fttrteate  problem  which 
God  has  laid  at  the  doors  of  the  South,  you  shall 
have  at  all  times  the  patient,  sympathetic  help  of 
my  race  and  let  us  pray  God  it  will  come,  in  a 
blotting  out  of  sectional  differences  and  racial  ani- 


4 


1 1 8       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

mosities  and  suspicions,  in  a  determination  to  ad- 
minister absolute  justice,  and  in  a  willing  obedi- 
ence among  all  classes  to  the  mandates  of  law. 
This,  coupled  with  our  material  prosperity, 
will  bring  into  our  blessed  South  a  new  Heaven 
and  a  new  earth. 


The  Last  Address  of  William  McKinley. 

Delivered  at  the  Pan-American  Exposition  at  Buffalo,  the 
day  before  he  was  assassinated.     Abridged. 

After  all,  how  near  one  to  the  other  is  every 
part  of  the  world.  Modern  inventions  have 
brought  into  close  relation  widely  separated  peo- 
ples and  made  them  better  acquainted.  Geo- 
graphic and  political  divisions  will  continue  to 
exist,  but  distances  have  been  effaced.  Swift 
ships  and  fast  trains  are  becoming  cosmopolitan. 
They  invade  fields  which  a  few  years  ago  were 
impenetrable.  The  world's  products  are  ex- 
changed as  never  before,  and  with  increasing  trans- 
portation facilities  come  increasing  knowledge 
and  larger  trade.  Prices  are  fixed  with  mathe- 
matical precision  by  supply  and  demand.  The 
world's  selling  prices  are  regulated  by  market 
and  crop  reports.  We  travel  greater  distances  in 
a  shorter  space  of  time  and  with  more  ease  than 


THE  LAST  ADDRESS  OF  WM,  McKINLEY,        1 1 9 

was  ever  dreamed  of  by  the  fathers.  Isolation  is 
no  longer  possible  or  desirable.  The  same  im- 
portant news  is  read,  though  in  different  lan- 
guages, the  same  day  in  all  Christendom. 

The  telegraph  keeps  us  advised  of  whaf  is  oc- 
curring everywhere,  and  the  press  foreshadows, 
with  more  or  less  accuracy,  the  plans  and  pur- 
poses of  the  nations.  Market  prices  of  products 
and  of  securities  are  hourly  known  in  every  com- 
mercial mart,  and  the  investments  of  the  people 
extend  beyond  their  own  national  boundaries 
into  the  remotest  parts  of  the  earth.  Vast 
transactions  are  conducted  and  international 
exchanges  are  made  by  the  tick  of  the  cable. 
Every  event  of  interest  is  immediately  bulletined. 
The  quick  gathering  and  transmission  of  news, 
like  rapid  transit,  are  of  recent  origin,  and  are 
only  made  possible  by  the  genius  of  the  inventor 
and  the  courage  of  the  investor.  It  took  a 
special  messenger  of  the  Government,  with  every 
facility  known  at  the  time  for  rapid  travel,  nine- 
teen days  to  go  from  the  City  of  Washington  to 
New  Orleans  with  a  message  to  General  Jackson 
that  the  war  with  England  had  ceased  and  a 
treaty  of  peace  had  been  signed.  How  different 
now  !  We  reached  General  Miles,  in  Porto  Rico, 
and  he  was  able  through  the  military  telegraph 
to  stop  his  army  on  the  firing  line  with  the 
message  that  the  United  States  and  Spain  had 
signed    a    protocol    suspending   hostilities.     We 


1 20       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

knew  almost  instantly  of  the  first  shots  fired  at 
Santiago,  and  the  subsequent  surrender  of  the 
Spanish  forces  was  known  at  Washington  within 
less  than  an  hour  of  its  consummation.  The  first 
ship  of  Cervera's  fleet  had  hardly  emerged  from 
that  historic  harbor  when  the  fact  was  flashed 
to  our  Capital,  and  the  swift  destruction  that 
followed  was  announced  immediately  through 
the  wonderful  medium  of  telegraphy. 

So  accustomed  are  we  to  safe  and  easy  com- 
munication with  distant  lands  that  its  temporary 
interruption,  even  in  ordinary  times,  results  in 
loss  and  inconvenience.  We  shall  never  forget 
the  days  of  anxious  waiting  and  suspense  when 
no  information  was  permitted  to  be  sent  from 
Pekin,  and  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  the 
nations  in  China,  cut  off  from  all  communication, 
inside  and  outside  of  the  walled  capital,  were 
surrounded  by  an  angry  and  misguided  mob  that 
threatened  their  lives  ;  nor  the  joy  that  thrilled  the 
world  when  a  single  message  from  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  brought,  through  our 
Minister,  the  first  news  of  the  safety  of  the  be- 
siege diplomats. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
there  was  not  a  mile  of  steam  railroad  on  the 
globe ;  now  there  are  enough  miles  to  make  its 
circuit  many  times.  Then  there  was  not  a  line 
of  electric  telegraph  ;  now  we  have  a  vast  mileage 
traversing  all  lands  and  all  seas.     God  and  man 


THE  LAST  ADDRESS  OF  WM.  McKINLE  K.        121 

have  linked  the  nations  together.  No  nation  can 
longer  be  indifferent  to  any  other.  And  as  we 
are  brought  more  and  more  in  touch  with  each 
other,  the  less  occasion  is  there  for  misunder- 
standings, and  the  stronger  the  disposition,  when 
we  have  differences,  to  adjust  them  in  the  court 
of  arbitration,  which  is  the  noblest  forum  for  the 
settlement  of  international  disputes. 

My  fellow  citizens,  trade  statistics  indicate 
that  this  country  is  in  a  state  of  unexampled 
prosperity.  The  figures  are  almost  appalling. 
They  show  that  we  are  utilizing  our  fields  and 
forests  and  mines,  and  that  we  are  furnishing 
profitable  employment  to  the  millions  of  work- 
ing-men throughout  the  United  States,  bringing 
comfort  and  happiness  to  their  homes,  and  mak- 
ing it  possible  to  lay  by  savings  for  old  age  and 
disability.  That  all  the  people  are  participating 
in  this  great  prosperity  is  seen  in  every  Ameri- 
can community  and  shown  by  the  enormous  and 
unprecedented  deposits  in  our  savings  banks. 
Our  duty  in  the  care  and  security  of  these 
deposits  and  their  safe  investment  demands  the 
highest  integrity  and  the  best  business  rapacity 
of  those  in  charge  of  these  depositories  of  the 
people's  earnings. 

We  have  a  vast  and  intricate  business,  built  up 
through  years  of  toil  and  struggle,  in  which  every 
part  of  the  country  has  its  stake,  which  will  not 
permit  of  either  neglect,  or  of  undue  selfishness. 


1 22       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

No  narrow,  sordid  policy  will  subserve  it.  The 
greatest  skill  and  wisdom  on  the  part  of  manu- 
facturers and  producers  will  be  required  to  hold 
and  increase  it.  Our  industrial  enterprises,  which 
have  grown  to  such  great  proportions,  affect  the 
homes  and  occupations  of  the  people  and  the 
welfare  of  the  country.  Our  capacity  to  produce 
has  developed  so  enormously,  and  our  products 
have  so  multiplied,  that  the  problem  of  more 
markets  requires  our  urgent  and  immediate  at- 
tention. Only  a  broad  and  enlightened  policy 
will  keep  what  we  have.  No  other  policy  will 
get  more.  In  these  times  of  marvelous  business 
energy  and  gain  we  ought  to  be  looking  to  the 
future,  strengthening  the  weak  places  in  our  in- 
dustrial and  commercial  systems,  that  we  may  be 
ready  for  any  storm  or  strain. 

By  sensible  trade  arrangements  which  will  not 
interrupt  our  home  production  we  shall  extend 
the  outlets  for  our  increasing  surplus.  A  system 
which  provides  a  mutual  exchange  of  commodi- 
ties is  manifestly  essential  to  the  continued  and 
healthful  growth  of  our  export  trade.  We  must 
not  repose  in  fancied  security  that  we  can  forever 
sell  everything  and  buy  little  or  nothing.  If 
such  a  thing  were  possible  it  would  not  be  best 
for  us,  or  for  those  with  whom  we  deal.  We 
should  take  from  our  customers  such  of  their 
products  as  we  can  use  without  harm  to  our  in- 
dustries  and  labor.     Reciprocity  is  the  natural 


THE  LAST  ADDRESS  OF  WM.  McKINLEY.        1 23 

outgrowth  of  our  wonderful  industrial  develop- 
ment under  the  domestic  policy  now  firmly  es- 
tablished. 

What  we  produce  beyond  our  domestic  con- 
sumption must  have  a  vent  abroad.  The  excess 
must  be  relieved  through  a  foreign  outlet,  and 
we  should  sell  everywhere  we  can  and  buy  wher- 
ever the  buying  will  enlarge  our  sales  and  pro- 
ductions, and  thereby  make  a  greater  demand 
for  home  labor. 

The  period  of  exclusiveness  is  past.  The  ex- 
pansion of  our  trade  and  commerce  is  the  press- 
ing problem.  Commercial  wars  are  unprofit- 
able. A  policy  of  good  will  and  friendly  trade 
relations  will  prevent  reprisals.  Reciprocity 
treaties  are  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the 
times ;  measures  of  retaliation  are  not.  If,  per- 
chance, some  of  our  tariffs  are  no  longer  needed 
for  revenue  or  to  encourage  and  protect  our  in- 
dustries at  home,  why  should  they  not  be  em- 
ployed to  extend  and  promote  our  markets 
abroad  ?  Then,  too,  we  have  inadequate  steam- 
ship service.  New  lines  of  steamships  have  al- 
ready been  put  in  commission  between  the 
Pacific  coast  ports  of  the  United  States  and 
those  on  the  western  coasts  of  Mexico  and  Cen- 
tral and  South  America.  These  should  be  fol- 
lowed up  with  direct  steamship  lines  between 
the  western  coast  of  the  United  States  and  South 
American  ports.     One  of  the  needs  of  the  times 


1 24       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

is  direct  commercial  lines  from  our  vast  fields  of 
production  to  the  fields  of  consumption  that  we 
have  but  barely  touched.  Next  in  advantage  to 
having  the  thing  to  sell  is  to  have  the  conveyance 
to  carry  it  to  the  buyer.  We  must  encourage 
our  merchant  marine.  We  must  have  more 
ships.  They  must  be  under  the  American  flag, 
built  and  manned  and  owned  by  Americans. 
These  will  not  only  be  profitable  in  a  commercial 
sense  ;  they  will  be  messengers  of  peace  and 
amity  wherever  they  go. 

We  must  build  the  Isthmian  Canal,  which  will 
unite  the  two  oceans  and  give  a  straight  line  of 
water  communication  with  the  western  coasts  of 
Central  and  South  America  and  Mexico.  The 
construction  of  a  Pacific  cable  can  not  be  longer 
postponed. 

Let  us  ever  remember  that  our  interest  is  in 
concord,  not  conflict ;  and  that  our  real  eminence 
rests  in  the  victories  of  peace,  not  those  of  war. 
Our  earnest  prayer  is  that  God  will  graciously 
vouchsafe  prosperity,  happiness  and  peace  to  all 
our  neighbors,  and  like  blessings  to  all  the  peoples 
and  powers  of  earth. 


THE  NAVY,  125 

The  Navy. 

Admiral  George  Dewey. 

Contributed  to  this  collection  by  Admiral  Dewey. 

The  world  knows  to-day  the  important  part 
which  the  Navy  has  had  in  all  the  wars  in  which 
our  nation  has  been  engaged  since  its  existence. 
The  part  which  the  Navy  has  taken  in  the  mak- 
ing of  history  has  been  a  glorious  one  from  the 
days  of  1776  until  the  present  moment.  To  re- 
call the  names  of  such  men  as  Paul  Jones,  Perry, 
McDonough,  Farragut,  and  a  host  of  others, 
awakens  memories  of  those  true  American  patri- 
ots and  of  their  gallant  deeds  in  behalf  of  home 
and  country. 

Without  doubt  some  of  you  now  present  are 
descended  from  sailor  heroes  who  took  part  in 
the  early  struggles  of  this  nation  upon  the  seas. 
Our  countrymen  have  known,  of  course,  during 
all  the  intervening  years,  that  there  was  a  Navy 
at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  ;  but  it  has  remained 
for  an  American  naval  officer,  in  very  recent 
years,  to  show  through  his  writings  what  tremen- 
dous importance  attached  to  the  exploits  of  our 
early  Navy,  small  as  it  was. 

In  the  War  of  the  Revolution  the  United  States 
as  a  nation  had  only  forty-one  vessels  in  com- 
mission, including  the  **  Bonhomme  Richard  " 
and   her    four    Franco-American    consorts.     Of 


1 26       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

these,  twenty-four  were  lost  by  capture  or  wreck 
during  the  war.  Within  the  same  period,  how- 
ever, the  number  of  war  vessels  lost  by  the  British 
was  one  hundred  and  two.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  at  the  very  beginning  of  our  country's  exist- 
ence there  was  set  for  future  generations  the 
example  of  inflicting  upon  the  enemy's  sea-power 
a  very  much  greater  loss  than  our  own  sustained  ; 
and  all  our  history  shows  that  the  Navy  has  prof- 
ited by  this  example. 

In  addition  to  war  vessels,  many  privateers 
were  engaged  in  capturing  and  destroying  mer- 
chant vessels  sailing  under  English  colors,  the 
total  number  of  captures  of  all  kinds  being  more 
than  eight  hundred.  In  this  war  our  infant  Navy 
developed  the  abilities  of  such  men  as  Paul  Jones, 
Nicholas  Biddle,  John  Nicholson,  Richard  Dale, 
Joshua  Barney,  John  Barry,  and  others, — men 
whose  names  shine  out  upon  the  Navy's  roll  of 
honor  in  undying  glory.  Let  no  one  forget  that 
upon  this  list  of  deathless  fame  stands  forth  the 
name  of  Count  de  Grasse,  that  French  command- 
er who  did  so  much,  with  the  splendid  fleet  sent 
over  by  our  sister  nation,  to  help  this  country  in- 
achieving  its  independence.  The  careful  reader 
of  history  knows  that  the  operations  of  de 
Grasse's  fleet  were  of  powerful  effect  in  bringing 
about  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  and  end- 
ing the  war.  All  latter-day  writers  agree  that  the 
successful  ending  of  hostihties  was  due  in  great 


"  LEST  WE  forget:'  12/ 

measure  to  the  sea-power  of  France ;  and  I  re- 
gard it  as  particularly  happy  that  our  nation  is 
so  soon  to  show  afresh  its  gratitude  to  France  by 
erecting  a  statue  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of 
de  Grasse's  compatriot  on  land,  Count  de  Ro- 
chambeau. 

I  have  spoken  briefly  of  our  earliest  Navy. 
To-day  our  Navy  contains  as  fine  ships  as  float 
upon  the  seas  ;  officers  capable  of  upholding  the 
valorous  traditions  of  our  service  ;  and  the  finest 
body  of  trained  seamen  to  be  found  in  the  world, 
all  working  together  to  a  common  end, — the 
honor  and  glory  of  our  flag  and  country. 


"  Lest  We  Forget." 

David  Starr  Jordan,  LL.D. 

President  of  Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University.    Abridged. 

Patriotism  is  the  will  to  serve  one's  country, 
to  make  one's  country  better  worth  serving.  It 
is  a  course  of  action  rather  than  a  sentiment. 
The  shrilling  of  the  mob  is  not  patriotism.  It  is 
not  patriotism  to  trample  on  the  Spanish  flag,  to 
burn  fire-crackers,  or  to  twist  the  Lion's  tail. 
The  "  glory "  of  war  turns  our  attention  from 
civic  affairs.  Neglect  invites  corruption.  Noble 
and  necessary  as  was  our  Civil  war,  we  have  not 
yet  recovered  from  its  degrading  influences.  The 
war  with  Spain  has  united  at  last  the  North  and 


1 28       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

South,  we  say.  So  at  least  it  appears.  When 
Fitzhugh  Lee  is  called  a  Yankee,  and  all  the 
haughty  Lees  seem  proud  of  the  designation,  we 
may  be  sure  that  the  old  lines  of  division  exist 
no  longer.  But  our  present  solidarity  shows  that 
the  nation  was  sound  already,  else  a  month  could 
not  have  welded  it  together. 

It  is  twenty-eight  years  ago  to-day  that  a  rebel 
soldier  who  says, 

"  I  am  a  Southerner, 
I  loved  the  South  and  dared  for  her 
To  fight  from  Lookout  to  the  sea 
With  her  proud  banner  over  me." 

stood  before  the  ranks  of  the  Grand  Army  and 

spoke  these  words : 

*'  I  stand  and  say  that  you  were  right ; 
I  greet  you  with  uncovered  head, 
Remembering  many  a  thundrous  fight 
When  whistling  death  between  us  sped  ; 
I  clasp  the  hand  that  made  my  scars, 
I  cheer  the  flag  my  foemen  bore, 
I  shout  for  joy  to  see  the  stars 
All  on  our  common  shield  once  more." 

This  was  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
and  all  this  time  the  great  loyal  South  had, 
patiently  and  unflinchingly  accepted  war's  terri- 
ble results.  It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  she 
shows  her  loyalty  to-day.  The  *'  Solid  South,'* 
the  bugaboo  of  politicians,  the  cloak  of  Northern 
venality,  has  passed  away  forever.  The  warm 
response   to    American    courage,    in    whatever 


'' LEST  WE  forget:'  I29 

section  or  party,  shows  that  with  all  our  surface 
divisions,  we  of  America  are  one  in  heart.  And 
this  very  solidarity  should  make  us  pause  before 
entering  upon  a  career  of  militarism.  Unforget- 
ting,  open-eyed,  counting  all  the  cost,  let  us 
make  our  decision.  The  Federal  Republic,  the 
Imperial  Republic — which  shall  it  be  ? 

The  policing  of  far-off  islands,  the  maintenance 
of  the  machinery  of  imperialism,  are  petty  things 
beside  the  duties  which  the  higher  freedom 
brings.  To  turn  to  these  empty  and  showy 
affairs  is  to  neglect  our  own  business  for  the 
gossip  of  our  neighbors.  Such  work  may  be  a 
matter  of  necessity  ;  it  should  not  be  a  source  of 
pride.  The  political  greatness  of  England  has 
never  lain  in  her  navies  nor  the  force  of  her 
arms.  It  has  lain  in  her  struggles  for  individual 
freedom.  Not  Marlborough,  nor  Nelson,  nor 
Wellington  is  its  exponent,  let  us  say,  rather, 
Pym  and  Hampden,  and  Gladstone  and  Bright. 
The  real  problems  of  England  have  always  been 
at  home.  The  pomp  of  imperialism,  the  display 
of  naval  power,  the  commercial  control  of  India 
and  China — all  these  are  as  the  bread  and 
circuses  by  which  the  Roman  emperors  held  the 
mob  from  their  thrones.  They  keep  the  people 
busy  and  put  off  the  day  of  final  reckoning. 
"  Gild  the  dome  of  the  Invalides,"  was  Napo- 
leon's cynical  command  when  he  learned  that  the 
people  of  Paris  were  becoming  desperate. 


130        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

A  foe  is  always  at  the  gates  of  a  nation  with  a 
vigorous  foreign  policy.  The  British  nation  is 
hated  and  feared  of  all  nations  except  our  own. 
Only  her  eternal  vigilance  keeps  the  vultures 
from  her  coasts.  Eternal  vigilance  of  this  sort 
will  strengthen  governments,  will  build  up 
nations;  it  will  not  in  like  degree  make  men. 
The  day  of  the  nations  as  nations  is  passing. 
National  ambitions,  national  hopes,  national 
aggrandizements;  all  these  may  become  public 
nuisances.  Imperialism,  like  feudalism,  belongs 
to  the  past.  The  men  of  the  world  as  men,  not 
as  nations,  are  drawing  closer  together.  The 
needs  of  commerce  are  stronger  than  the  will  of 
nations,  and  the  final  guarantee  of  peace  and 
good  will  among  men  will  be  not  "  the  parlia- 
ment of  nations,"  but  the  self-control  of  men. 

Some  great  changes  in  our  system  are  inevit- 
able, and  belong  to  the  course  of  natural  progress. 
Against  them  I  have  nothing  to  say.  Whatever 
our  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  we  should 
play  it  manfully.  But  with  all  this  I  believe 
that  the  movement  toward  broad  dominion 
would  be  a  step  downward.  It  would  be  to  turn 
from  our  highest  purposes  to  drift  with  the 
current  of  "  manifest  destiny."  It  would  be  not 
to  do  the  work  of  America,  but  to  follow  the 
ways  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

"  God  of  our  fathers,  known  of  old — 
Lord  of  our  far-flung  batile  line — 


PIETY  AND  CIVIC  VIRTUE,  I3I 

Beneath  whose  awful  Hand  we  hold 
Dominion  over  pahii  and  pine  ; 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget,  lest  we  forget. 

The  tumult  and  the  shouting  dies. 
The  captains  and  the  kings  depart — 
Still  stands  Thine  ancient  Sacrifice, 
An  humble  and  a  contrite  heart. 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget,  lest  we  forget. 

Far-called  our  navies  melt  away — 
On  dune  and  headland  sinks  the  fire — 
Lo,  all  our  pomp  of  yesterday, 
Is  one  with  Nineveh  and  Tyre  ! 
Judge  of  the  nations,  spare  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget,  lest  we  forget." 


Piety  and  Civic  Virtue. 

Charles  Henry  Parkhurst,  D.D. 
Used  by  permission  of  Dr.  Parkhurst. 

The  fault  v^ith  the  mass  of  civic  virtue  is  that 
there  is  not  enough  Christian  live  coal  in  it  to 
make  it  safe  to  be  counted  on  for  solid  effects. 
What  a  wicked  man  will  do  on  election  day  you 
can  tell.  What  a  good  man  will  do  you  cannot 
tell.  Most  likely  he  will  not  do  anything.  It  is 
a  singular  fact  that  goodness  cannot  be  so  con- 


1 32       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

fidently  trusted  as  depravity  can  to  do  what  is 
expected  of  it.  It  is  not  so  reliable.  It  takes  a 
larger  consideration  to  prevent  a  bad  man  from 
casting  his  ballot  for  rum  than  it  does  to  prevent 
a  good  man  from  going  and  voting  against  it. 

Average  decency  is  n.ot  so  much  in  earnest  as 
average  profligacy.  Elections  in  city  and  State 
are  very  likely  to  turn  on  the  weather.  Singu- 
larly enough  a  watery  day  is  apt  to  mean  a  rum 
government.  Respectability  looks  at  the  ba- 
rometer before  it  steps  out  of  doors.  Decency  is 
afraid  of  taking  cold.  Piety  does  not  like  to  get 
its  feet  wet.  Wickedness  is  amphibious  and 
thrives  in  any  element  or  in  no  element.  There 
are  a  good  many  lessons  which  the  powers  of 
darkness  are  competent  to  teach  the  children  of 
light,  and  that  is  one  of  them.  Vice  is  a  good 
deal  spryer  than  virtue,  has  more  staying  power, 
can-  work  longer  without  getting  out  of  breath, 
and  has  less  need  of  half-holidays. 

I  know  because  of  this,  people  say,  you 
can't  do  anything.  You  can.  One  man  can 
chase  a  thousand  ;  we  have  the  Almighty's 
word  for  it.  Any  man  can  do  it  be  he  Catho- 
lic, Republican,  or  Democrat,  if  he  have  the 
truth  on  his  side,  dares  to  stand  up  and  tell 
it,  is  distinguished  by  consecrated  hang-to-itive- 
ness,  and  when  he  has  been  knocked  down  once 
preserves  his  serenity,  gets  up,  and  goes  at  it 
again.      One  man  can   chase  a  thousand.      Let 


PIE  TV  AND  CI  VIC  VIR  TUE,  133 

our  earnest,  fiery  citizens  once  get  but  an  inkling 
of  what  citizenship  means,  in  its  truest  and  inner- 
most sense,  and  there  is  no  wall  of  misrule 
too  solidly  constructed  for  it  to  overthrow ; 
no  "  machine  "  of  demagogism  too  elaborately 
wrought  for  it  to  smash.  There  is  nothing  that 
can  stand  in  the  way  of  virtue  on  fire.  A  fact 
you  can  misstate,  a  principle  you  can  put  under 
a  false  guise,  but  a  man  you  cannot  down  ;  that 
is  to  say,  if  he  is  a  man  who  has  grit,  grace,  and 
sleeps  well  o'  nights. 

There  is  no  play  about  this  work ;  there  is  no 
fun  in  it.  It  means  annoyances ;  it  means 
enmities.  It  is  no  more  possible  to  stand  up  in 
the  presence  of  the  community  and  speak  the 
truth  in  cold  monosyllables  now  than  it  was  in 
Jerusalem  two  thousand  years  ago.  Human 
nature  has  not  altered  any  in  that  time.  There 
is  not  so  much  wickedness  now,  perhaps,  as  there 
was  then,  but  what  there  is  is  just  as  wicked  and 
just  as  malignant.  If  a  man  butts  his  head 
against  a  wall,  he  may  be  able  to  do  a  little 
something  towards  weakening  the  wall,  but  it 
will  be  certain  to  give  him  the  headache.  Action 
and  reaction  are  bound  to  be  equal.'  Nothing 
less  than  the  steady  pull  of  a  long  and  devout 
purpose  will  be  sufficient  under  those  circum- 
stances to  keep  the  man  a-going. 

Men  now  are  precisely  what  they  were  when 
they  thrust  Jeremiah  into  a  hole  and  took  off  the 


1 34       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

head  of  John  the  Baptist.  But  that  makes  not 
a  whit  of  difference.  Every  blow  tells.  Wicked- 
ness is  cowardly  and  Pentecostal  virtue  is  not. 
That  makes  a  huge  difference.  The  matter  of 
numbers  does  not  come  into  the  account.  His- 
tory is  not  administered  on  the  basis  of  arithme- 
tic. The  declaration  of  Solomon  that  the  battle 
is  not  to  the  strong  has  been  justified  by  every 
age  of  moral,  political,  and  military  history. 

No  cause  can  be  called  a  weak  cause  that  has 
vitality  enough  about  it  to  make  devotees  out  of 
its  advocates.  Philip  Second  could  do  nothing 
with  poor  little  Holland  because  the  Protestant's 
idea  put  recruits  on  their  feet  faster  than  Philip's 
mercenaries  could  shoot  or  roast  the  veterans. 

If  any  one  anywhere  is  anxious  to  accomplish 
something  in  the  way  of  ameliorating  the  condi- 
tion of  his  town  or  city,  and  asks  me  what  he 
shall  do,  I  answer  in  ten  words :  Get  the  facts  ; 
state  them  ;  stand  up  to  them. 


Abraham  Lincoln. 

Benjamin  Harrison. 

Copyright,  1 901,  by  the  Bo  wen-Merrill  Co.     Used  by  per- 
mission. 

The  observance  of  the  birthday  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  which  has  become  now  so  widely  estab- 
lished, either  by  public  law  or  by  general  custom, 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  1 3  5 

will  more  and  more  force  the  orators  of  these 
occasions  to  depart  from  the  line  of  biography 
and  incident  and  eulogy,  and  to  assume  the  du- 
ties of  applying  to  pending  public  questions  the 
principles  illustrated  in  the  life,  and  taught  in 
the  public  utterances  of  the  man  whose  birth  we 
commemorate. 

And,  after  all,  we  may  be  sure  that  that  great, 
simple-hearted  patriot  would  have  wished  it  so. 
Flattery  did  not  soothe  the  living  ear  of  Lincoln. 
He  was  not  unappreciative  of  friendship,  not 
without  ambition  to  be  esteemed,  but  the  over- 
mastering and  dominant  thought  of  his  life  was 
to  be  useful  to  his  country  and  to  his  country- 
men. 

On  his  way  to  take  up  the  already  stupendous 
work  of  the  presidency,  he  spent  a  night  at 
Indianapolis.  The  arrival  of  his  train  was  greeted 
by  many  thousands  of  those  who  had  supported 
his  candidacy.  They  welcomed  him  with  huzzas, 
as  if  they  would  give  him  token  of  their  purpose 
to  stand  by  the  results  declared  at  the  poles. 
Yet  it  seemed  hardly  to  be  a  glad  crowd,  and  he 
not  to  be  a  glad  man.  There  was  no  sense  of 
culpability — either  in  their  hearts  or  in  his ;  no 
faltering;  no  disposition  to  turn  back,  but  the 
hour  was  shadowed  with  forebodings. 

Men  did  not  shrink,  but  there  was  that  vague 
sense  of  apprehension,  that  unlocated  expectancy 
of  evil,  which  fills  the  air  and  disturbs  the  beasts 


1 36       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

of  the  field  when  the  unclouded  sun  is  eclipsed. 
When  the  column  is  once  started  in  the  charge 
there  are  cheers,  but  there  is  a  moment  when, 
standing  at  attention,  silence  is  king. 

There  stood  our  chosen  leader,  the  man  who 
was  to  be  our  pilot  through  seas  more  stormy 
and  through  channels  more  perilous  than  ever 
the  old  ship  passed  before.  He  had  piloted  the 
lumbering  flatboat  on  our  western  streams,  but 
he  was  now  to  take  the  helm  of  the  great  ship. 
His  experience  in  public  office  had  been  brief, 
and  not  conspicuous.  He  had  no  general  ac- 
quaintance with  the  people  of  the  whole  country. 
His  large,  angular  frame  and  face,  his  broad 
humor,  his  homely  illustrations  and  simple  ways, 
seemed  to  very  many  of  his  fellow-countrymen 
to  portray  a  man  and  a  mind  that,  while  acute 
and  powerful,  had  not  that  nice  balance  and 
touch  of  statecraft,  that  the  perilous  way  before 
us  demanded.  No  college  of  arts  had  opened  to 
his  struggling  youth ;  he  had  been  born  in  a 
cabin,  and  reared  among  the  unlettered.  He 
was  a  rail-splitter,  a  flatboatman,  a  country  lawyer. 

Yet  in  all  these  conditions  and  associations, 
he  was  a  leader — at  the  railsplitting,  in  the 
rapids,  at  the  bar,  in  story  telling.  He  had  a 
comparatively  small  body  of  admiring  and  at- 
tached friends.  He  had  revealed  himself  in  his 
debate  with  Douglas  and  in  his  New  York  speech 
as  a  man   most   familiar  with   American  politics 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  137 

and  a  profound  student  of  our  institutions,  but 
above  all,  as  a  man  of  conscience — most  kind  in 
speech,  and  most  placid  in  demeanor,  yet  dis- 
turbing the  public  peace  by  his  insistence  that 
those  theories  of  human  rights  which  we  had  all 
so  much  applauded  in  theory  should  be  made 
practical. 

In  the  broad,  common-sense  way  in  which  he 
did  small  things  he  was  larger  than  any  situation 
in  which  life  had  placed  him.  Europe  did  not 
know  him.  To  the  South  and  to  many  in  the 
Northern  States  he  was  an  uncouth  jester,  an 
ambitious  upstart,  a  reckless  disturber.  He  was 
hated  by  the  South,  not  only  for  his  principles, 
but  for  himself.  The  son  of  the  cavalier,  the 
man  who  felt  toil  to  be  a  stain,  despised  this  son 
of  the  people,  this  child  of  toil.  He  was  going 
to  Washington  to  meet  misgivings  in  his  own 
party,  and  to  confront  the  fiercest,  most  implaca- 
ble and  powerful  rebellion  of  which  history  gives 
us  an  example.  Personal  dangers  attended  his 
journey.  The  course  before  him  was  lighted 
only  by  the  lamp  of  duty  :  outside  its  radiance  all 
was  dark. 

He  seemed  to  be  conscious  of  all  this,  to  be 
weighted  by  it ;  but  so  strong  was  his  sense  of 
duty,  so  courageous  his  heart,  so  sure  was  he  of 
his  own  high  purposes  and  motives  and  of  the 
favor  of  God  for  himself  and  his  people,  that  he 
moved  forward  calmly  to  his  appointed  work  ; 


138       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

not  with  show  and  brag,  neither  with  shrinking. 
He  was  yet  in  a  large  measure  to  win  the  con- 
fidence of  men  in  his  capacity,  when  the  occasion 
was  so  exigent  as  to  seem  to  call  for  one  who 
had  already  won  it. 

The  selection  of  Mr.  Seward  for  Secretary  of 
State  was  a  brave  act,  because  Mr.  Lincoln  could 
not  fail  to  know  that  for  a  time  Mr.  Seward 
would  overshadow  him  in  the  popular  estima- 
tion ;  and  a  wise  one,  because  Mr.  Seward  was  in 
the  highest  degree  qualified  for  the  great  and 
delicate  duties  of  the  office. 

He  was  distinguished  from  the  abolition  lead- 
ers by  the  fairness  and  kindliness  with  which  he 
judged  the  South  and  the  slaveholder.  He  was 
opposed  to  human  slavery,  not  because  some 
masters  were  cruel,  but  upon  reasons  that  kind- 
ness to  the  slave  did  not  answer.  ^^  All  men'' 
included  the  black  man.  Liberty  is  the  law  of 
nature.  The  human  enactment  cannot  pass  the 
limits  of  the  State ;  God's  law  embraces  crea- 
tion. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  faith  in  time,  and  time  has 
justified  his  faith.  If  the  panorama  of  the  years 
from  '61  to  '65  could  have  been  unrolled 
before  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen  would  they 
have  said,  would  he  have  said,  that  he  was  ade- 
quate for  the  great  occasion  ?  And  yet  as  we 
look  back  over  the  story  of  the  Civil  War  he  is 
revealed    to  us   standing   above  all    men  of   that 


ABRAHA M  LINCOLN,  1 39 

epoch  in  his  capacity  and  adaptation  to  the 
duties  of  the  presidency. 

It  does  not  seem  to  be  God's  way  to  give  men 
preparation  and  fitness  and  to  reveal  them  until 
the  hour  strikes.  Men  must  rise  to  the  situa- 
tion. The  storage  batteries  that  are  to  furnish 
the  energy  for  these  great  occasions  God  does 
not  connect  until  the  occasion  comes. 

The  Civil  War  called  for  a  president  who  had 
faith  in  time,  for  his  country  as  well  as  for  him- 
self;  who  could  endure  the  impatience  of  others 
and  bide  his  time.  A  man  who  could  by  a 
strong  but  restrained  diplomatic  correspondency 
hold  off  foreign  intermeddlers  and  at  the  same 
time  lay  the  sure  basis  for  the  Geneva  award,  a 
man  who  could  in  all  his  public  utterances,  while 
maintaining  the  authority  of  the  law  and  the 
just  rights  of  the  national  government,  breathe 
an  undertone  of  yearning  for  the  misguided  and 
rebellious ;  a  man  who  could  hold  the  war  and 
the  policy  of  the  government  to  its  original  pur- 
pose— the  restoration  of  the  States  without  the 
destruction  of  slavery — until  public  sentiment 
was  ready  to  support  a  proclamation  of  emanci- 
pation ;  a  man  who  could  win  and  hold  the  love 
of  the  soldier  and  of  the  masses  of  the  people  ;  a 
man  who  could  be  just  without  pleasure  in  the 
severities  of  justice,  who  loved  to  forgive  and 
pardon. 

Mr.  Lincoln  loved  the  *'  plain  people  "  out  of 


I40       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

whose  ranks  be  came,  but  not  with  a  class  love. 
He  never  pandered  to  ignorance  or  sought  ap- 
plause by  appeals  to  prejudice.  The  equality 
of  men  in  rights  and  burdens,  justice  to  all,  a 
government  by  all  the  people,  for  all  the  people, 
was  his  thought — no  favoritism  in  enactment  or 
administration — the  general  good. 

He  had  the  love  of  the  masses  and  he  won  it 
fairly,  not  by  art  or  trick.  He  could,  therefore, 
admonish  and  restrain  with  authority.  He  was 
a  man  who  could  speak  to  all  men  and  be  heard. 
Would  there  were  more  such !  There  is  great 
need  of  men  now  who  can  be  heard  both  in  the 
directors'  meetings  and  in  the  labor  assembly. 

Qualities  of  heart  and  mind  combined  to  make 
a  man  who  has  won  the  love  of  mankind.  He 
stands  like  a  great  lighthouse  to  show  the  way  of 
duty  to  all  his  countrymen  and  to  send  afar  a 
beam  of  courage  to  those  who  beat  against  the 
winds.  We  do  him  reverence.  We  bless  forever 
the  memory  of  Lincoln. 


Commerce. 

Henry  Van  Dyke,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

There  is  a  nobility  of  trade  which  has  its 
traditions  of  glory,  its  laws  of  honor,  its  history 
of  usefulness,  and  its  purpose  of  beneficence  to 


COMMERCE,  141 

all  mankind.  There  is  an  order  of  the  Golden 
Fleece  to  which  the  world  owes  its  greatest  dis- 
coveries and  its  largest  advances  in  civilization. 
It  was  founded  in  the  palmy  days  of  Greece,  but 
it  has  survived  to  the  present  day,  and  we  need 
not  look  far  to  find  its  knights  of  labor,  of  ad- 
venture, of  honor,  and  of  generous  succor  to  the 
oppressed. 

Who  sneers  at  commerce  ?  Is  it  the  lover  of 
liberty  ?  Let  him  remember  that  the  grandest 
battles  for  freedom  have  been  fought  by  mer- 
cantile nations.  It  was  commercial  Holland  that 
defied  the  tyranny  of  Spain  ;  it  was  the  merchant- 
men of  England  that  shattered  the  Armada  on 
the  stormy  waters  of  the  channel ;  it  was  a  band 
of  trading  colonies  that  set  up  the  standard  of 
liberty  in  the  new  world  ;  and  but  for  the  freely 
offered  wealth — and  the  nobly  sacrificed  lives — • 
of  our  mercantile  classes,  I  leave  it  to  you  to  say, 
whether  our  new  Republic  would  not  now  be  dis- 
membered and  dishonored. 

Who  sneers  at  commerce  ?  Is  it  the  devotee 
of  learning?  Let  him  remember  that  it  was  the 
traders  of  Phoenicia  who  gave  letters  to  Greece  ; 
it  was  the  maritime  states  of  Greece  who  adorned 
the  world  with  poetry,  and  philosophy,  and  art ; 
it  was  the  age  of  England's  commercial  suprem- 
acy which  brought  the  highest  glory  to  her  uni- 
versities ;  it  is  in  great  part  the  liberality  of 
merchants  which  has  established  on  our  shores 


142       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

these  great  institutions  of  learning, — Harvard, 
Yale,  Princeton,  Columbia,  Cornell.  Let  him 
remember  the  little  commercial  city  of  Leyden, 
and  her  imperishable  example.  For  when  her 
heroic  siege  was  ended — when  she  had  won  her 
unparalleled  victories  against  armies,  ships, 
canon,  pestilence,  flood,  and  famine — when  the 
Prince  of  Orange  in  his  unbounded  gratitude 
came  and  asked  her  to  choose  her  reward — that 
little  city  of  Dutch  merchants  chose  not  gold,  nor 
freedom  from  taxes,  but  a  university,  and  the 
reward  of  her  defense  became  the  light  of  Europe. 

Who  sneers  at  commerce  ?  Is  it  the  friend  of 
peace  ?  Let  him  remember  that  commerce  has 
created  and  established  the  system  of  inter- 
national law ;  that  there  is  no  spot  of  land  to- 
day upon  which  the  rights  of  property  and  person 
are  more  secure  than  upon  the  high  seas.  Let 
him  remember  that  *'  every  ship  that  sails  the 
ocean  is  a  pledge  of  peace  to  the  extent  of  its 
value ;  every  white  sail  a  more  appropriate  sym- 
bol of  peace  than  the  olive-branch  itself." 

Who  sneers  at  commerce?  Is  it  the  preacher 
of  Christianity  ?  Let  him  remember  that  it  was 
the  trade  of  Thessalonica  which  caused  the 
Gospel  to  sound  forth  from  that  city  into  all  the 
world ;  it  was  the  enterprise  of  commerce  which 
opened  the  closed  gates  of  China,  and  Japan,  and 
Corea  to  the  missionary,  and  made  possible  those 
triumphant  advances  of  Christianity  of  which  we 


OUR  NATIONAL  SAFEGUARDS.  1 43 

are  beginning  to  hear  the  first  footfalls,  and  for 
whose  completion  we  must  look  to  the  conse- 
crated wealth  of  mercantile  communities.  Let 
the  Church  understand  her  opportunity,  and  her 
task.  Convert  commerce  and  you  have  found 
"  the  Knight-errant  of  the  Cross."  Convince  those 
who  reap  the  honorable  gains  of  trade  that  their 
wealth  has  its  sacred  obligations  as  well  as  its 
great  privileges,  that  the  richest  man  is  not  he 
who  has  the  most  money,  but  he  who  makes  the 
best  use  of  what  he  has,  that  great  possessions 
are  a  royal  trust  from  God  to  be  employed  for 
the  benefit  of  mankind,  and  then  the  noble  order 
of  true  commerce  will  become  the  transforming 
and  uplifting  power  of  our  modern  civilization. 


Our  National  Safeguards. 

Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew. 
Contributed  by  the  author. 

It  requires  only  a  brief  contemplation  of 
American  battle-fields  to  illustrate  the  madness 
or  the  idiocy  of  the  statesmen  who  would  frighten 
us  by  the  dangers  which  they  claim  threaten 
our  security  or  peace  from  foreign  assault  or 
foreign  invasion.  Thirty  thousand  American 
soldiers  conquered  Mexico,  with  twelve  millions 


144       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

of  inhabitants.  It  was  American  bravery,  intelli- 
gence and  dash.  Three  millions  of  people  threw 
off  the  yoke  of  the  British  Government,  though 
England  was  mistress  of  the  seas  and  the  arbiter 
of  Europe.  Hooker's  men  stormed  the  almost 
impregnable  heights  of  Lookout  Mountain,  and 
won  a  victory  above  the  clouds,  while  Pickett's 
brigade  of  the  Confederate  Army  hurled  them- 
selves with  unavaiHng  valor  upon  the  breastworks 
and  died  under  the  murderous  fire  of  the  batter- 
ies of  Meade  at  Gettysburg.  There  are  in  the 
United  States  to-day  a  reserve  of  ten  millions  of 
fighting  men.  They  are  the  same  stock,  with  the 
same  bravery  and  the  same  unconquerable  spirit 
as  those  who  fought  from  Bunker  Hill  to  York- 
town,  who  won  the  victory  under  Jackson  at 
New  Orleans,  who  followed  Scott  and  Taylor 
into  Mexico,  and  stormed  the  heights  of  Chapul- 
tepec,  and  marched  triumphantly  into  the  City  of 
the  Montezumas.  They  are  of  the  same  stock 
and  spirit,  the  same  courage  and  fearlessness  of 
death  as  the  soldiers  who  won  the  admiration  of 
the  French  and  English  ofificers  on  the  staffs  of 
General  Grant  and  General  Lee  in  those  conflicts 
of  the  Civil  War,  where  five  hundred  thousand 
men  died  in  battle.  Those  soldiers  require  no 
standing  army  for  their  safety,  no  expensive, 
exhausting  and  threatening  militarism  for  the 
salvation  or  the  defense  of  their  country.  They 
will  take  care  of  that  themselves.     It  is  for  us  to 


OUR  NATIONAL  SAFEGUARDS.  1 45 

preserve  the  glorious  heritage  for  which  these 
men  died  or  were  wounded,  or  are  now  maimed 
and  helpless  in  our  midst.  Our  duty  is  to  care 
tenderly  and  piously  for  the  survivors  of  the 
Grand  Army,  and  to  carry  out  in  policy,  in  prin- 
ciple and  in  practice  the  ideas  for  which  they 
fought.  Their  triumph  gave  to  the  Republic  the 
new  South.  It  substituted  for  the  old  oligarchy 
and  slavery  the  superb  development  which  comes 
with  individual  enterprise  and  free  labor.  The 
new  South  is  redeeming  its  wildernesses  for  pop- 
ulation and  homes  ;  it  is  reclaiming  its  waste 
lands  for  the  varied  productions  of  its  fructifying 
climate.  It  is  bringing  out  the  exhaustless 
treasures  of  its  mountains  and  hills  ;  it  is  estab- 
lishing manufactories,  founding  cities  and  adding 
its  quota  to  the  majesty,  the  power  and  the 
greatness  of  the  United  States.  We  must  be 
true  and  faithful  in  safeguarding  the  ballot-box 
and  the  right  of  the  citizen  to  deposit  his  vote 
and  have  it  honestly  recorded.  We  must  be 
courageous  in  fighting  the  madness  of  the  hour 
or  the  errors  which  increase  with  business 
depression  and  hard  times,  and-  go  with  our 
party  into  temporary  defeat,  if  need  be,  for  the 
preservation  of  the  national  credit,  and  those 
principles  of  sound  finance  and  practice,  common 
with  the  commercial  nations  of  the  world,  and 
which  alone  can  keep  us  solvent,  prosperous  and 
progressive.     From  Columbus  to  the  Mayflower, 


146       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

from  the  Mayflower  to  Washington  and  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  from  Washington 
and  the  Declaration  of  Independence  to  Lincoln 
and  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  are  the 
stepping-stones  of  American  liberty  and  modern 
development.  The  crowning  blessing  of  this 
majestic  evolution  is  that  American  citizenship 
which  is  the  common  heritage  of  us  all. 


Social  Discontent. 

Hon.  John  William  Griggs. 
Used  by  permission  of  the  author. 

This  great  country,  the  United  States  of 
America,  has  grown  into  an  independent  nation. 
It  has  advanced  and  extended  along  the  lines 
of  progress  and  prosperity  until  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world  have  been  lost  sight  of  and 
forgotten  in  the  thousand  greater  wonders  of 
this  industrial  age.  Education  has  become  a 
common  provision  of  every  State  for  every  child 
of  the  Republic.  Intelligence  has  increased ; 
reason  and  reasonableness,  the  ability  to  take 
right  views  of  things  has  become  more  universal 
among  this  people  than  among  the  people  of 
any  other  land.  The  average  of  comfort  and 
prosperity    is   higher  among  all  classes   in   this 


SOCIAL  DISCONTENT.  1 47 

country  than  could  be  found  at  any  other  age  of 
the  world  and  in  any  other  land  upon  the  surface 
of  the  earth. 

And  yet  there  are  complaints,  there  are  dis- 
contents, there  are  dissatisfactions,  and  gloomy 
minds  think  they  see,  in  these,  evidences  and 
signs  that  there  is  coming  a  social  revolution,  an 
overturning  of  our  system  of  popular  government, 
a  substitution  for  it  of  some  plan  whereby,  by 
legal  enactments,  all  citizens  of  the  Republic  can 
be  made  comfortable  and  rich,  without  regard 
to  fortune,  or  ability,  or  frugality,  or  merit. 

In  one  sense  discontent  is  a  good  thing.  It  is 
the  opposite  of  self-satisfaction.  It  is  a  good 
thing  to  appreciate  that  we  have  not  done  our 
best  and  then  try  to  do  it.  It  is  a  good  thing  to 
understand  that  we  have  not  made  the  most  of 
our  opportunities.  In  this  sense  discontent  is 
the  spur  of  ambition,  the  incentive  to  better 
work,  the  mountain  of  progress  up  which  from 
height  to  height,  civilization  has  climbed  to 
where  now  with  shining  face  she  stands  still 
pointing  upward  to  heights  unknown.  But 
there  is  another  kind  of  discontent,  born  of  an 
inclination  to  jealousy  and  envy,  that  seeks  not 
to  repair  its  mistakes,  nor  to  profit  by  its  failures, 
nor  to  build  up,  but  to  tear  down.  There  is 
among  many  a  sense  of  hopelessness  over  hope- 
less misfortune,  and  with  these,  it  is  more  to  pity 
than   to   blame.     But,  after  all,  in    these   discon- 


148       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

tents,  there  is  a  menace  to  the  Republic.  They 
afford  opportunities  for  the  demagogue  and  cheap 
candidate  for  public  office.  Glory  to  the  Ameri- 
can people.  They  cannot  be  fooled  all  of  the 
time  nor  some  of  the  time.  They  are  too  level- 
headed, too  intelligent,  too  patriotic  to  be  caught 
by  appeals  of  the  demagogue  and  social  revolu- 
tionist, to  the  dictates  of  sentiments  of  envy, 
hatred  and  malice. 

There  are  some  ways  by  which  it  is  best  for  us 
to  minimize  the  danger  we  find  in  these  discon- 
tents. The  first  remedy  is  the  one  that  is  to  be 
ever  applied — education.  Reduce  the  percentage 
of  illiteracy.  Let  the  public  schools  teach  not 
only  reading  and  writing,  but  let  the  public 
schools  teach  all  the  principles  of  American 
popular  government.  Let  us  go  back  to  the 
days  in  which  the  copybook  bore  the  text  taken 
from  Poor  Richard — "  Industry  and  Frugality 
lead  to  wealth,"  or  "  Who  by  the  plow  would 
thrive,  himself  must  either  hold  or  drive." 
There  was  not  anything  said  in  those  days  about 
legislating  the  boy  into  wealth  or  comfort  or 
ease,  especially  at  the  expense  of  anybody  else. 

Then  let  us  have  more  mutual  sympathy  and 
confidence  between  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
men.  The  man  who  works  for  wages  day  by 
day  is  our  equal  in  rights  and  is  our  equal  at  the 
ballot  box.  Very  often  he  has,  generally  he  has, 
as   high    instincts,  as  loyal    and    true  a  heart,  as 


SOCIAL  DISCONTENT,  149 

his  employer.  There  is  no  reason  why  his 
employer  or  the  candidate  for  office  or  anybody 
else  should  make  friends  with  him  only  at 
election  time.  Be  his  friend  all  the  year  round. 
Show  him  that  you  sympathize  with  him  as  a 
fellow  citizen.  This  is  not  a  condescension,  it  is 
his  right.     It  is  not  altruism. 

But  let  there  be  confidence  between  men  that 
earn  wages  and  men  that  pay  wages.  Let  them 
meet  together  on  a  plane  of  political  equality, 
and  they  will  learn  to  respect  the  employer  and 
the  employer  will  learn  to  respect  them.  Then, 
let  us  stop  making  citizens  out  of  unworthy 
material.  We  welcome  all  those  that  come  from 
over  the  sea,  men  of  merit  and  worth  and  proper 
instinct,  who  want  to  build  and  work  among 
us.  We  do  not  want  those  who  only  come  here 
to  tear  down  and  destroy.  We  have  had  the 
gates  wide  open.  They  have  been  coming  in — 
all  sorts,  all  conditions  and  all  beliefs.  Let  us 
shut  those  gates  and  open  them  hereafter  only 
to  men  of  merit  with  right  instincts.  The  law  of 
the  land  declares  that  no  subject  of  any  foreign 
government  shall  be  naturalized  unless  he  can 
prove,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court,  that  he 
has  been  well  attached  to  the  principles  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  How  that 
provision  has  been  ignored !  Why,  we  have 
taken  into  citizenship  with  us  thousands  of  men 
who  not  only  are  not  attached  to  the  principles 


1 50       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  who 
not  only  do  not  know  what  those  principles  are, 
but  who  hold  principles  diametrically  opposed  to 
it.  Now  let  us  see  that  America  suffers  no 
longer  from  the  surfeited  feast  of  foreign  Anar. 
chists  and  Socialists  and  Revolutionists  ;  give  us 
good  men  and  true  who  will  not  impede  our 
industry  and  keep  out  those  that  tend  to  des- 
troy industry. 

And  then  let  every  citizen  go  into  pohtics. 
Not  for  what  there  is  in  it  but  for  the  good  of 
his  country.  Rally  round  the  flag  and  keep  on 
rallying  !  It  is  a  very  old  saying  but  can  never 
be  too  often  repeated,  that  "  Eternal  vigilance  is 
the  prize  of  liberty." 


William  McKinley. 

G.  Stanley  Hall,  LL.  D. 

President  of  Clark  University,     Contributed  to  this  collec- 
tion by  the  author. 

When  Rome  was  declining  to  its  fall,  and 
Otho,  the  best  of  her  later  emperors,  died, 
strong  men  slew  themselves  from  sheer  grief, 
pathos  and  despair,  for  the  hope  of  the  world 
seemed  extinguished  in  a  gathering  twilight  of 
all  the  gods  and  men.  But  for  our  ship  of  state, 
acute  as  it  is,  this  sudden  shock  is  *  of  the  wave 


WILLIAM  McKINLE  V.  1 5 1 

and  not  the  rock/  for  God  reigns,  the  govern- 
ment is  safe,  and  we  shall  press  on  our  upward 
way. 

The  country  we  love  is  not  a  mere  geo- 
graphical term ;  it  is  more  than  all  our  rich  fields, 
prairies,  hills,  coasts  or  populous  cities.  It  is 
more  than  a  corporation,  or  trading  guild,  with 
its  manifold  and  prosperous  marts  and  all  its 
trade  and  commerce.  Our  fatherland  is  also  a 
State  invisible,  not  made-  with  hands,  a  great 
treasury  of  golden  deeds.  Its  moral  wealth  and 
worth  are  enriched  by  the  blood  of  every  soldier 
or  martyr  for  a  century  and  a  quarter.  It  is 
made  more  precious  by  every  act  of  devotion, 
heroism  or  self-sacrifice  in  its  behalf.  Every 
vote  with  intelligence  and  conviction  behind  it : 
every  tax  fairly  levied,  ungrudgingly  paid  and 
wisely  expended  ;  every  public  service  that  takes 
time  and  strength  from  our  private  affairs ;  every 
effort  for  municipal,  educational,  moral  or  social 
reform,  enhances  the  common  wealth,  the  store- 
house of  accumulated  virtue,  makes  citizenship 
and  country  better  and  mean  more,  makes  a 
purer  and  more  quickening  atmosphere  for  chil- 
dren to  grow  up  in  and  for  us  to  live  and  die  in. 

Man  is  pre-eminently  a  political  creature, 
a  State  builder,  and  true  and  real  politics  is,  as 
Aristotle  well  said,  his  highest  vocation.  Our 
great  Republic,  the  highest  expression  of  human- 
ity, with  all  its  hopes  and  all  its  fears  which  his- 


1 5  2        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

tory  has  yet  seen,  is  worthy  of  the  very  highest 
earthly  love,  service  and  devotion  of  man  ;  and 
our  flag  that  now  happily  hangs  in  or  waves  be- 
side every  schoolhouse  in  the  land,  that  has 
floated  in  every  battle  since  Lexington,  which 
has  been  torn  with  shot  and  shell,  and  led  every 
forlorn  hope  that  our  soldiers  have  so  often 
turned  into  victory,  is  the  emblem  of  a  meaning 
ever  fuller  and  more  sacred,  that  says  to  every 
citizen  wherever  he  is,  that  he  is  not  alone,  but 
part  of  the  great  organic  whole,  which  men  have 
died  to  make  free,  even  as  Christ  died  to  make 
men  holy. 

If  then  ours  is  the  noblest  of  nations,  best 
fitted  to  usher  in  a  higher  type  of  man,  anarchism, 
which  is  well  defined  as  *  ignorance  set  on  fire,' 
and  which  would  destroy  all  this  and  all  govern- 
ment without  which  man  becomes  a  beast,  is 
blackest  here  where  institutions  are  best.  Bred 
and  maddened  by  despotism,  even  its  desperate 
program  should  lose  its  fell  momentum  here  and 
turn  from  mere  negation  to  some  positive  or 
colonial  scheme  where  its  vagaries  would  grow 
harmless.  In  all  the  sad  annals  of  assassination, 
a  monster,  who  almost  in  the  act  of  grasping  the 
friendly  hand  which  our  land  in  the  person  of 
its  benign  Chief  holds  out  to  the  vilest,  shoots 
down  our  Captain  Great  Heart,  as  if  he  were  an 
outlaw,  adds  to  politics  a  new  shudder  of  horror 
and  pathos  and  commits  a  crime  without  a  name, 


WILLIAM  McKINLE  Y.  I  5  3 

and  all  direct  incitement  to  such  butchery,  legisla- 
tion should  hasten  to  brand  with  the  infamous 
punishment  it  deserves. 

As  the  office  of  President  grows  in  responsi- 
bility, it  not  only' needs  more  protection,  but  is 
surer  to  enlarge  the  man  who  holds  it  and  to 
bring  out  the  best  and  greatest  possibilities  of 
his  nature  and  repress  all  that  is  small  or  bad,  as 
indeed  it  has  always  done  in  our  past,  for  no  in- 
cumbent has  ever  disgraced  it.  Under  the  guid- 
ance of  him  we  mourn,  we  have  secured  sound 
money  and  a  business  prosperity  greater  than 
fever  before.  We  were  already  the  great  nation 
of  the  new  world,  but  now  in  the  irresistible 
logic  of  events  we  have  become  a  potent  factor  in 
all  the  larger  problems  of  the  old.  Before,  our 
statesmen  pondered  our  own  history  and  per- 
haps that  of  the  mother  country,  but  to  guide 
the  genius  and  destinies  of  our  greater  Republic, 
they  must  now  study  the  history  and  politics  of 
the  world.  Our  moral  influence  had  long  been 
profound  and  transforming,  but  we  have  added 
to  this  new  and  more  material  international  re- 
sponsibilities and  opportunities  in  commerce  and 
politics  as  we  take  a  higher  seat  in  the  world's 
great  parliament.  Whether  it  is  hard  'or  easy, 
we  must  now  in  a  measure  forget  the  things  that 
are  behind,  while  we  strive  to  realize  the  grand 
Stoic  motto  and  accept  the  inevitable  with  joy. 
For  we  now  live  in  a  nation  greater  than  any  of 


I  54       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

the  founders  of  our  government  foresaw,  and  even 
their  wisdom  must  be  transcended,  warmly  as  its 
lessons  must  ever  be  cherished. 

Pheidippides,  the  valiant  warrior  chief  of 
ancient  Greece,  after  a  great  victory,  ran  to  the 
Acropolis,  outstripping  all  others  in  the  race  ; 
and  in  the  very  act  of  shouting  *'  rejoice  for 
Athens  is  now  free  and  great,"  fell  dead,  ex- 
hausted by  his  labor,  by  a  special  favor  of  the 
gods,  who  would  permit  him  no  decline,  but,  for 
reward,  let  him  die  at  the  zenith  of  his  power. 
So  our  leader  had  just  recounted  almost  with  his 
last  words  the  achievements  of  his  stewardship, 
that  made  our  country  greater  and  happier,  even 
on  the  dreadful  brink  of  the  red  grave  to  which 
he  sank,  exhausted  perhaps  by  his  labors  be- 
yond the  power  of  recovery  from  his  wounds, 
and  it  may  be  by  special  favor  of  the  gods. 

Perhaps  his  work  was  done.  Can  we  better 
keep  his  memory  warm  in  our  hearts  and  green 
in  our  lives  than  by  now  pledging  each  other, 
when  a  touch  of  sorrow  has  made  us  all  akin,  that 
we  will  henceforth  love  and  serve  our  native  land 
more  devoutly  ;  that,  while  we  can  and  will  abate 
none  of  our  convictions,  our  partisanship  shall 
henceforth  be  without  the  sting  of  personal  ran- 
cor ;  that  we  will  be  mindful  that  bitterness  may 
inflame  the  weak  or  degenerate  to  violence  ;  that 
this  day  shall  be  forever  sacred  to  the  common 
good  for  which  our  government  and  civilization 


THE  MAN  WITH  HIS  HA  T  IN  HIS  HAND.       1 5  5 

stand  ;  and  to  that  deeper  unity  that  underlies 
all  differences  of  calling,  class,  party  and  creed, 
and  which  makes  all  men  everywhere  brethren, 
because  children  of  the  same  God?  If  we  do 
this  henceforth,  it  is  only  ashes  they  bury  at 
Canton,  and  the  soul  of  our  fallen  chieftain  will 
go  marching  on  through  the  ages ;  it  will  abide 
with  us  as  a  diffusing  power  that  makes  for  civic 
righteousness,  and  harmony  and  order  will  be  no 
less  insured  than  liberty  and  progress. 


"  The  Man  with  His  Hat  in  His  Hand." 

Clark  Howell. 
Abridged. 

The  Twenty-ninth  Regiment  of  United  States 
Volunteers,  was  quartered  at  Atlanta,  Georgia. 
They  had  just  received  orders  for  their  trip  of  lo, 
ooo  miles.  The  troops  were  formed  in  full  regi- 
mental parade  in  the  presence  of  thousands  of  spec- 
tators, among  whom  were  anxious  and  weeping 
mothers,  loving  sisters  and  sweethearts,  and  a 
vast  multitude  of  others  who  had  gone  to  look, 
possibly  for  the  last  time,  upon  departing  friends. 
Of  the  enlisted  men  a  great  percentage  were 
from  Georgia,  most  of  them  from  simple  farm- 
houses and  the  quiet  and  unpretentious  hearth- 
stones which  abound  in   the   rural  communities. 


156       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

A  few  had  seen  service  in  Cuba,  but  most  of 
them  had  volunteered  as  raw  recruits  from  the 
farm.  There  were  sturdy  and  rugged  mountain- 
eers from  the  Blue  Ridge  counties — strong, 
steady  and  intrepid,  with  the  simplicity  charac- 
teristic of  the  mountain  fastnesses  from  which 
they  came.  There  were  boys  from  the  wire  grass 
— plain,  unassuming  and  unaffected,  their  eyes 
lighted  with  the  fire  of  determination  and  their 
hearts  beating  in  unison  with  the  loyalty  of  their 
purpose.  The  men  moved  like  machines.  The 
regiment  of  raw  recruits  had  become  in  a  few 
months  a  command  of  trained  and  disciplined 
soldiers.  The  very  air  was  fraught  with  the 
impressive  significance  of  the  scene,  which  had 
its  counterpart  in  many  of  the  States  where 
patriots  enlisted  faster  than  the  muster  roll  was 
called. 

Leaning  against  a  tree  was  a  white-haired 
mountaineer  who  looked  with  intent  eyes  and 
with  an  expression  of  the  keenest  sympathy 
upon  the  movements  of  the  men  in  uniform. 
His  gaze  was  riveted  on  the  regiment  and  the 
frequent  applause  of  the  visiting  multitude  fell 
apparently  unheard  on  his  ears.  The  regiment 
had  finished  its  evolutions ;  the  commissioned 
officers  had  lined  themselves  to  make  their  regu- 
lation march  to  the  front  for  their  report  and 
dismissal.  The  bugler  had  sounded  the  signal ; 
the  artillery  had  belched  its  adieu  as  the  king  of 


THE  MAN  WITH  HIS  HA  T  IN  HIS  HAND.       I  5  / 

day  withdrew  beyond  the  hills ;  the  halyard  had 
been  grasped,  and  the  flag  slowly  fell,  saluting 
the  retiring  sun.  As  the  flag  started  its  descent, 
the  scene  was  characterized  by  a  solemnity  that 
seemed  sacred  in  its  intensity.  From  the  regi- 
mental band  there  floated  upon  the  stillness  of 
the  autumn  evening  the  strains  of  the  **  Star 
Spangled  Banner."  Instinctively  and  apparently 
unconsciously,  the  old  man  by  the  tree  removed 
his  hat  from  his  head  and  held  it  in  his  hand  in 
reverential  recognition  until  the  flag  had  been 
furled  and  the  last  strain  of  the  national  anthem 
had  been  lost  in  the  resonant  tramp  of  the  troops 
as  they  left  the  field. 

What  a  picture  that  was — the  man  with  his 
hat  in  his  hand,  as  he  stood  uncovered  during 
that  impressive  ceremony  !  I  moved  involunta- 
rily toward  him,  and,  impressed  with  his  reveren- 
tial attitude,  I  asked  him  where  he  was  from. 
"  I  am,"  said  he,  "  from  Pickens  County  ;  "  and 
in  casual  conversation  it  developed  that  this  raw 
mountaineer  had  come  to  Atlanta  to  say  farewell 
to  an  only  son  who  stood  in  line  before  him, 
and  upon  whom  his  tear-bedimmed  eyes  might 
then  be  resting  for  the  last  time.  The  silent  ex- 
hibition of  patriotism  and  loyalty  had  been 
prompted  by  a  soul  as  rugged,  but  as  placid  as 
the  great  blue  mountains  which  gave  it  birth, 
and  by  an  inspiration  kindled  from  the  very 
bosom  of  nature  itself. 


I  58       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIOiVS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

There  was  the  connecting  link  between  the 
hearthstone  and  the  capitol  !  There  was  the 
citizen  who,  representing  the  only  real,  substan- 
tial element  of  the  nation's  reserve  strength — 
"  the  citizen  standing  in  the  doorway  of  his 
home,  contented  on  his  threshold  "  had  answered 
his  country's  call — the  man  of  whom  Henry 
Grady  so  eloquently  said  :  "  He  shall  save  the 
Republic  when  the  drum  tap  is  futile  and  the 
barracks  are  exhausted."  In  him  was  duty 
typified,  and  in  him  slumbered  the  germ  of  sac- 
rifice. There  was  that  in  the  spontaneous  action 
of  the  man  that  spoke  of  hardships  to  be  endur- 
ed and  dangers  to  be  dared  for  country's  sake  ; 
there  was  that  in  his  reverential  attitude  that 
said,  even  though  the  libation  of  his  heart's 
blood  should  be  required  in  far  off  lands,  his  life 
would  be  laid  down  as  lightly  as  his  hat  was 
lifted  to  his  country's  call.  Denied  by  age  the 
privilege  of  sharing  the  hardships  and  the 
dangers  of  the  comrades  of  his  boy,  no  rule 
could  regulate  his  patriotic  ardor,  no  limitation 
could  restrain  the  instincts  of  his  homage. 


The  Cure  for  Anarchism. 

Lyman  Abbott,  D.D. 

Contributed  by  Dr.  Abbott  to  this  collection. 

Whenever  laws  are  enacted  which  violate  the 
divine  laws  of  life,  they  breed  Anarchy.     Anarch- 


THE  CURE  FOR  ANARCHISM.  I  59 

ism  is  always  a  revolt  against  unjust  and  unequal 
laws.  Let  the  legislators  recognize  the  funda- 
mental truth  that  what  is  an  injury  to  one  is  an 
injury  to  all,  and  what  is  a  benefit  to  the  many  is 
a  benefit  to  all ;  let  them  seek  only  the  welfare 
of  all  by  their  legislation  ;  let  them  recognize  the 
truth  that  law  is  divine  and  to  set  the  Nation 
against  it  is  to  invite  disaster  and  to  conform  the 
Nation  to  it  is  to  insure  prosperity,  and  we  shall 
have  little  cause  to  ask,  What  shall  we  do  with 
Anarchy  ? — it  will  disappear  of  itself.  On  the 
contrary,  let  legislators  legislate  for  special 
classes,  let  them  encourage  by  their  legislation 
the  spoliation  of  the  many  for  the  benefit  of  the 
few,  let  them  protect  the  rich  and  forget  the 
poor,  let  them  estimate  the  prosperity  of  the 
Nation  by  the  accumulation  of  its  wealth,  not  by 
its  distribution,  let  them  intrench  an  industrial 
system  which  means  long  hours,  and  little  leisure, 
and  small  rewards  for  the  many,  and  accumula- 
tion of  unimagined  wealth  for  the  few,  and  men 
in  the  bitterness  of  their  hearts  will  cry  out.  If 
this  is  government,  let  us  away  with  it. 

But  just  and  equal  laws  will  not  be  enough 
without  just  and  equal  execution  of  those  laws. 
Let  the  courts  delay  to  administer  justice,  let  the 
rich  be  enabled  to  keep  the  poor  waiting  till  their 
patience  and  their  purses  are  alike  exhausted,  let 
crimes  go  unpunished  until  they  are  forgotten, 
let  the  petty  gambler  be  arrested  but    the  rich 


l6o       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

and  prosperous  one  go  free,  and  Anarchism  will 
demand  the  abolition  of  all  law  because  it  sees  in 
law  only  an  instrument  of  injustice. 

The  place  in  which  to  attack  Anarchism  is 
where  the  offenses  grow  which  alone  make 
Anarchism  possible.  Let  us  secure  the  just, 
speedy,  and  impartial  administration  of  law,  let 
us  elect  legislators  who  seek  honestly  to  conform 
human  legislation  to  the  divine  laws  of  the  social 
order,  without  fear  or  favor,  let  us  teach  in  our 
Churches  and  our  schools  and  through  the  press 
the  divine  origin,  the  divine  sanctity,  and  the 
divine  authority  of  law,  and  let  us  from  this  van- 
tage-ground meet  with  fair-minded  reason  the 
wild  cries  of  men  who  have  been  taught  by  the 
monstrous  misuse  of  law  to  hate  all  law  both 
human  and  divine,  and  our  question  will  be 
solved  for  us,  because  both  Anarchy  and  Anar- 
chists will  disappear  from  American  society.  The 
way  to  counteract  hostility  to  law  is  to  make 
laws  which  deserve  to  be  respected. 


Expansion. 

Hon.  Henry  L.  Watterson. 

The   traditional  stay-at-home  and  mind-your- 
own-business  polif:y  laid    down    by  Washington 


EXPANSION.  l6l 

was  wise  for  a  weak  and  struggling  nation,  and,  if 
it  could  be  adhered  to,  would  be  wise  for  every 
people.  But  each  of  the  centuries  has  its  own 
tale  of  progress  to  tell,  each  raises  up  its  own 
problems  to  be  solved.  The  difference  between 
a  scattered  population,  fringing  the  east  Atlantic 
seaboard,  and  eighty  millions  of  people  occupying 
and  traversing  the  Continent  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific,  is  too  great  to  admit  of  contrast. 

As  no  preceding  cycle  the  intervening  century 
has  revolutionized  the  world.  Another  century 
may  witness  the  transfer  of  human  ambitions  and 
activities  from  Europe  and  America  to  Asia  and 
Africa.  The  Pacific,  and  not  the  Atlantic,  may 
become  the  washbasin  of  the  universe.  Can  the 
United  States  stand  apart  and  aside  while  these 
movements  of  mankind,  like  a  -running  stream, 
pass  them  by,  an  isolated  and  helpless  mass  of 
accumulated  and  corrupting  riches?  We  could 
not  if  we  would  and  we  should  not  if  we  could. 

We  must  adapt  ourselves  to  the  changed  order. 
We  must  make  a  new  map.  The  vista,  as  it 
opens  to  our  sight,  is  not  so  great  as  would  have 
been  the  vista  of  Texas  and  California,  Florida 
and  Alaska  to  the  eye  of  Washington.  For  all 
his  wisdom  the  father  of  his  country  could  not 
foresee  electricity,  nor  estimate  the  geographic 
contractions  it  would  bring.  Already  the  old 
world  is  receding.  Another  world  is  coming  into 
view.     The  statesmanship  of  the  twentieth  cen- 


1 62       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

tury,  must  address  itself  to  this  and  will  be 
largely  constructive  in  its  character. 

The  United  States  from  now  on  is  destined  to 
be  a  world  power.  Henceforth  its  foreign  policy 
will  need  to  be  completely  reconstructed.  From 
a  nation  of  shopkeepers  we  become  a  nation  of 
warriors.  We  escape  the  menace  and  peril  of 
socialism  and  agrarianism,  as  England  has  escaped 
them,  by  a  policy  of  colonization  and  conquest. 
From  a  provincial  huddle  of  petty  sovereignties, 
held  together  by  a  rope  of  sand,  we  rise  to  the 
dignity  and  prowess  of  an  Imperial  Republic  in- 
comparably greater  than  Rome. 

It  is  true  that  we  exchange  domestic  dangers 
for  foreign  dangers,  but  in  every  direction  we 
multiply  the  opportunities  of  the  people.  We 
risk  Caesarism,  certainly  ;  but  even  Caesarism  is 
preferable  to  anarchism.  We  risk  wars,  but  a 
man  has  but  one  time  to  die,  and,  either  in  peace 
or  war,  he  is  not  likely  to  die  until  his  time  comes. 
In  short,  anything  is  better  than  the  pace  we 
were  going  before  these  present  forces  were 
started  into  life.  Already  the  young  manhood 
of  the  country  is  as  a  goodly  brand  snatched  from 
the  burning  and  given  a  perspective  replete  with 
noble  deeds  and  elevating  ideas. 


C/SES  OF  ED  UCA  TION  FOR  B  US  I  NESS         I  ^l 


Uses  of  Education  for  Business. 

Charles  William  Eliot,  LL.D. 
President  of  Harvard  University. 
Before  we  can  talk  together  to  advantage 
about  the  value  of  education  in  business,  we 
ought  to  come  to  a  common  understanding  about 
the  sort  of  education  we  mean  and  the  sort  of 
business.  Nobody  doubts  that  primary  and 
grammar  school  training  are  useful  to  everybody  ; 
or  that  high  school  training  is  advantageous  for 
a  clerk,  salesman,  commercial  traveler,  or  skilled 
workman ;  or  that  technical  or  scientific  school 
training  is  useful  to  an  engineer,  chemist,  elec- 
trician, mechanician,  or  miner.  Our  question  is, 
of  what  use  is  the  education  called  "  liberal  "  to 
a  man  of  business?  The  education  called  liberal 
has  undergone  a  great  expansion  during  our 
generation,  and  is  now,  in  the  best  institutions, 
thoroughly  conformed  to  modern  uses.  All 
universities  worthy  of  the  name — even  the  oldest 
and  most  conservative — now  supply  a  broad  and 
free  range  of  studies,  which  includes  the  ancient 
subjects,  but  establishes  on  a  perfect  equality — 
with  them  the  new  and  vaster  subjects  of  modern 
languages  and  literature,  history,  political  science, 
and  natural  science.  We  must  not  think  of  the 
liberal  education  of  to-day  as  dealing  with  a  dead 
past — with  dead  languages,  buried  peoples,  and 


1 64       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

exploded  philosophies  ;  on  the  contrary,  every- 
thing which  universities  now  teach  is  quick  with 
life  and  capable  of  application  to  modern  uses. 
They  teach  indeed  the  languages  and  literature 
of  Judea,  Greece,  and  Rome;  but  it  is  because 
those  literatures  are  instinct  with  eternal  life. 
They  teach  mathematics,  but  it  is  the  mathema- 
tics mostly  created  within  the  lifetime  of  the 
older  men  of  this  generation.  In  teaching  Eng- 
lish, French,  and  German,  they  are  teaching  the 
modern  vehicles  of  all  learning  — just  what  Latin 
was  in  mediaeval  times.  As  to  history,  political 
science,  and  natural  science,  the  subjects  them- 
selves, and  all  the  methods  by  which  they  are 
taught,  may  properly  be  said  to  be  new  within  a 
century.  Liberal  education  is  not  to  be  justly 
regarded  as  something  dry,  withered,  and  effete  ; 
it  is  as  full  of  sap  as  the  cedars  of  Lebanon. 

And  what  sort  of  business  do  we  mean  ? 
Surely  the  larger  sorts  of  legitimate  and  hon- 
orable business ;  that  business  which  is  of  advan- 
tage to  both  buyer  and  seller,  and  to  producer, 
distributor  and  consumer  alike,  whether  individ- 
uals or  nations,  which  makes  common  some  use- 
ful thing  which  has  been  rare,  or  makes  accessible 
to  the  masses  good  things  which  have  been  kept 
within  reach  only  of  the  few.  That  great  art  of 
production  and  exchange  which  through  the 
centuries  has  increased  human  comfort,  cherished 
peace,  fostered  the  fine  arts,  developed  the  preg- 


USES  OF  EDUCA  TIOAT  FOR  BUSINESS.        1 65 

nant  principle  of  associated  action,  and  promoted 
both  public  security  and  public  property. 

With  this  understanding  of  what  we  mean  by 
education  on  the  one  hand  and  business  on  the 
other,  let  us  see  if  there  can  be  any  doubt  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  relations  between  them.  The 
business  man  in  large  affairs,  needs  keen  observa- 
tion, a  quick  mental  grasp  of  new  subjects,  and  a 
wide  range  of  knowledge.  Whence  come  these 
powers  and  attainments — either  to  the  educated 
or  to  the  uneducated — save  through  practice  and 
study  ?  But  education  is  only  early  systematic 
practice  and  study  under  guidance.  The  object 
of  all  good  education  is  to  develop  just  these 
powers — accuracy  in  observation,  quickness  and 
certainty  in  seizing  upon  the  main  points  of  a 
new  subject,  and  discrimination  in  separating  the 
trivial  from  the  important  in  great  masses  of  facts. 
This  is  what  liberal  education  does  for  the  physi- 
cian, the  lawyer,  the  minister,  and  the  scientist. 
This  is  what  it  can  do  for  the  man  of  business ; 
to  give  a  mental  power  is  one  of  the  main  ends 
of  the  higher  education.  Is  not  active  business 
a  field  in  which  mental  power  finds  full  play  ? 
Again  education  imparts  knowledge,  and  who 
has  greater  need  to  know  economics,  history,  and 
natural  science  than  the  man  of  large  business? 
Further,  liberal  education  develops  a  sense  of 
right,  duty,  and  honor;  and  more  and  more,  in 
the  modern  world,  large  business  rests  on  recti- 


1 66       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

tude  and  honor,  as  well  as  on  good  judgment. 
Education  does  this  through  the  contemplation 
and  study  of  the  moral  ideals  of  our  race  ;  not 
in  drowsiness  or  dreaminess  or  in  mere  va^ue 
enjoyment  of  poetic  and  religious  abstractions, 
but  in  the  resolute  purpose  to  apply  spiritual 
ideals  to  actual  life. 

When  the  universities  hold  up  before  their 
youth  the  great  Semitic  ideals  which  were  em- 
bodied in  the  Decalogue,  they  mean  that  those 
ideals  should  be  applied  in  politics.  When  they 
teach  their  young  men  that  Asiatic  ideal  of  un- 
known antiquity,  the  Golden  Rule,  they  mean 
that  their  deciples,  shall  apply  it  to  business  ; 
when  they  inculcate  that  comprehensive  maxim 
of  Christian  ethics,  **  Ye  are  all  members  of  one 
another,"  they  mean  that  this  moral  principle  is 
applicable  to  all  human  relations,  whether  be- 
tween individuals,  families,  states,  or  nations. 

Again,  higher  education  has  always  made  great 
account  of  the  power  of  expression  in  speech  and 
writing,  whence  has  arisen  an  opinion  that  liberal 
education  must  be  less  useful  to  the  man  of  busi- 
ness than  to  the  lawyer,  or  minister,  because  the 
business  man  has  less  need  than  they  of  this 
power.  Have  we  not  all  seen,  in  recent  years,  that 
leading  men  of  business,  particularly  those  who 
act  for  corporations,  have  great  need  of  a  high- 
ly trained  mind  of  clear  and  convincing  expres- 
sion ?     Business  men  need  in  speech  and  writing, 


USES  OF  ED  UCA  TION  FOR  B  USINESS.         1 6/ 

all  the  Roman  terseness  and  French  clearness ; 
the  graces  and  elegancies  of  literary  style  they 
may  indeed  dispense  with,  but  not  with  the 
greater  qualities  of  compactness^  accuracy,  and 
vigror.  It  is  a  liberal  education  indeed  which 
teaches  a  youth  of  fair  parts  and  reasonable  in- 
dustry to  speak  and  write  his  native  language 
strongly,  accurately,  and  persuasively.  That  one 
attainment  is  sufficient  reward  for  the  whole  long 
course  of  twelve  years  spent  in  liberal  study. 
But  you  say  :  This  is  all  theory ;  what  are  the 
facts  with  regard  to  the  connection  between 
higher  education  and  successful  business  life  ? 
Among  the  young  men  who  have  graduated  from 
Harvard  University  within  forty  years  there  have 
been  many  cases  of  rapid  advancement  from  the 
bottom  to  the  top  of  the  business  corporations  in 
great  variety.  A  young  man  leaves  college  at 
twenty-three  and  goes  into  a  cotton  mill  at  the 
bottom  ;  and  in  four  years  he  is  superintendent. 
Another  lands  in  a  Western  city,  three  days  after 
his  graduation,  without  a  dollar,  and  without  a 
friend  in  the  city,  and  ten  years  afterward  he  is 
the  owner  of  the  best  establishment  for  printing 
books  in  that  city.  A  young  man  six  years  out 
of  college  is  superintendent  of  one  of  the  largest 
woolen  mills  in  the  United  States.  Another  a 
little  older  is  the  manager  of  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant steel  works  in  the  country.  These  are 
but  striking  examples  of  a  large  class  of  facts. 


1 6S       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y 

Successful  business  men  themselves  give  no 
doubtful  answer  to  the  questions  we  are  consid- 
ering. Successful  business  men  with  the  rarest 
exceptions,  wish  their  sons  to  be  educated  to  the 
highest  point  the  sons  can  reach.  No  matter 
whether  the  father  be  himself  an  educated  man 
or  not,  when  his  success  in  business  has  given 
him  the  means  of  educating  his  children  he  is 
sure  to  desire  that  they  receive  a  liberal  educa- 
tion whether  they  are  going  into  business  or  not. 

Finally,  liberal  education  is  an  end  in  itself 
apart  from  all  its  utilities  and  applications. 
When  we  teach  a  child  to  read,  our  primary  aim 
is  not  to  enable  it  to  decipher  a  way-bill  or  a  re- 
ceipt, but  to  kindle  its  imagination,  enlarge  its 
vision,  and  open  for  it  the  avenues  of  knowledge. 
The  same  is  true  of  a  liberal  education  in  its 
utmost  reach.  Its  chief  objects  for  the  individ- 
ual are  development,  inspiration,  and  exaltation ; 
the  practical  advantages  which  flow  from  it  are 
incidental,  not  paramount. 

For  the  community  the  institutions  of  higher 
education  do  a  like  service.  They  bring  each 
successive  generation  of  youth  up  to  levels  of 
knowledge  and  righteousness  which  the  preced- 
ing generation  reached  in  their  maturity.  Public 
comfort,  ease  and  wealth  are  doubtless  promoted 
by  them ;  but  their  true  and  sufficient  ends  are 
knowledge  and  righteousness. 


PEACEMAKERS  OF  BLESSED  MEMORY,       1 69 

Peacemakers  of  Blessed  Memory. 

Adapted. 
Gen.  Lew  Wallace. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  an  honest  mistake. 
If  the  Confederate  soldier  was  in  the  wrong,  it 
was  where  one  does  a  wrong  believing  it  right  ; 
and  as  a  rule  the  distinguishing  mark  of  such 
mistakes  is  that  their  evil  consequences  strike 
hardest  at  home.  But  in  this  case,  saying  that 
the  unfortunates  were  wrong  in  believing  they 
had  a  cause  worthy  the  smile  of  heaven,  one 
thing  at  least  is  never  to  be  overlooked — they 
died  for  it.  Can  a  man  furnish  better  proof  of 
his  honesty  ?  Ah,  no  !  And  instead  of  spitting 
on  his  grave,  I  would  libate  it  with  a  cup  mixed 
in  equal  parts  of  sorrow  and  admiration.  "  There's 
rosemary,  that's  for  remembrance."  Remem- 
brance !  Of  what  ?  Not  the  cause,  but  the  hero- 
ism it  invoked. 

I  like  that  idea  of  introspection.  It  is  worth 
converting  into  a  habit.  Our  souls,  if  we  may 
trust  the  preachers,  can  become  unclean.  Not 
that  they  contaminate  themselves.  How  con- 
venient, could  we  now  and  then  take  them  out 
and  give  them  a  cleansing  !  But  as  this  is  beyond 
us,  the  next  best  thing,  I  suggest,  is  to  turn  a 
bright  light  in  upon  them — much  as  the  doctors 
do  when  they  would  see  down  our  throats.     If  in 


1 70       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

a  trial  of  the  suggestion — as  well  here  and  now 
— you  should  discover  the  ethereal  part  of  you 
spotted  with  hate,  not  of  the  dead,  but  of  living 
Confederates — the  distinction,  as  I  conceive  it, 
is  so  easy  as  to  be  more  than  possible — make 
haste  and  get  rid  of  it. 

There  lived  a  man  who  left  behind  him  a  life 
which  will  serve  to  the  last  clock  stroke  of  time 
as  an  all-round  examplar  of  the  better  qualities 
of  our  nature.  In  the  heat  of  trials  which  would 
have  burned  love  of  his  fellows  out  of  other  men, 
he  practiced  a  patience  never  before  exemplified 
but  in  one  instance,  and  dealt  his  enemies  such 
exceeding  charity  that  they  were  none  the  less 
his  friends.  Out  of  obscurity  he  arose  as  the  sun 
rises,  and  presently  his  light  was  the  property  of 
the  whole  world ;  insomuch  that  there  are  yet 
millions  of  men,  the  same  whom  he  brought  up 
with  him,  only  out  of  a  deeper  darkness,  and 
their  children,  who  think  it  no  harm  to  worship 
him.  He  proved  the  feasibility  of  self-education, 
and  that,  once  attained,  it  is  of  peculiar  excel- 
lence in  that  it  leaves  the  genius  of  the  individual 
unshorn  of  its  originality,  and  free  to  destroy  or 
conserve  according  to  its  inspirations.  He  was  a 
burthen  bearer  from  his  birth,  and  the  burthens 
were  girt  upon  his  spirit  even  more  than  his 
body ;  yet  while  they  crooked  the  body,  and  bent 
it  earthward,  and  left  it  gnarled  and  knotted  and 
ugly,  the  spirit  grew  in  strength  and  beauty,  and 


PEA  CEMAKERS  OF  BLESSED  MEMOR  Y,        1 7 1 

was  at  no  time  so  strong  and  beautiful  as  in  the 
hour  an  assassin  blew  it  out.  And  great  was  the 
need  of  strength,  for  the  burthens  were  many, 
the  very  heaviest  of  them  being  the  Confederacy 
of  which  I  am  talking.  .  How  that  war  wrung 
his  heart !  What  sorrow,  at  times,  what  agony, 
it  gave  him  !  Think  of  the  refrain  ringing  through 
his  windows  for  four  long  years,  *'  We  are  com- 
ing, Father  Abraham,  three  hundred  thousand 
more."  And  where  were  the  singers  going? 
And  to  what  ?  Spare  me  answering.  He  knew. 
Yet  in  all  that  time  there  was  not  an  hour  in 
which  he  did  not  recognize  the  Confederates, 
even  those  in  arms,  as  his  countrymen. 

Do  you  ask  the  proof.  Here  it  is.  In  the 
archives  of  the  Government  there  are  many  judg- 
ments of  death,  but  not  one  warrant  bearing  his 
signature.  Tell  me  now,  you  whom  I  may 
induce  to  study  and  weigh  the  reasons  for  your 
unwillingness  to  reconcile  with  your  old  antagon- 
ists in  gray,  what  were  the  provocations  they 
gave  you  compared  with  those  they  gave  him  ? 
Aye,  wherein  are  you  so  loftily  perched  above 
forgiveness,  and  so  contemptuous  of  its  divin- 
ity, better,  nobler,  more  godly  than  Abraham 
Lincoln? 

I  knew  another  man  whose  dealings  with  Con- 
federates after  surrender  make  him  worthy  a 
place  in  the  golden  gallery  of  American  exem- 
plars.    Thirteen  thousand  of  them  yielded  them- 


1 72        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

selves  to  him  at  Donelson  ;  37,000  at  Vicksburg  ; 
and  at  Appomattox  all  that  remained  of  the 
Confederacy,  army,  navy,  citizens,  government, 
asked  terms  of  him.  Practically  they  were  at  his 
mercy.  If  thirsty  for  blood,  he  could  have 
gorged  himself.  Never  had  any  man,  at  least 
on  this  continent,  so  many  vials  full  of  punish- 
ment for  pouring  out  on  the  heads  of  enemies  as 
Ulysses  S.  Grant.  You  know  the  story.  Liter- 
ally he  fed  the  hungry,  clothed  the  naked,  and 
set  the  revolted  States  on  their  feet  by  return- 
ing their  people  to  them. 

Such  are  the  records  of  the  two  men,  one  a 
civilian,  the  other  a  soldier,  both  evolutions  of 
the  great  war,  both  foremost  among  the  foremost 
of  the  world. 


The  Keys  to  Success. 

Edward  .William  Bok. 
Used  by  permission.     Abridged. 

The  successful  life  calls  for  certain  sacrifices, 
and  this  especially  applies  to  a  young  man's  social 
life.  Now  some  young  men  have  a  dangerous 
belief  that  employers  have  no  jurisdiction  over 
their  evening  hours.  But  the  fact  is  that  an 
employer  has  some  rights  in  this  respect.  He 
has  a  perfect  right  to  expect  that  his  employee 
shall   not   only  carry   himself  respectably  in   his 


THE  KEYS  TO  SUCCESS.  1 73 

social  life,  but  that  he  shall  temper  his  social 
habits  to  business  demands. 

The  average  young  man  is  very  apt  to  go  to 
extremes  in  social  life.  On  the  one  hand  there 
are  those  who  so  immerse  themselves  in  business 
that  they  shut  out  every  social  pleasure.  They 
get  so  weighted  down  with  the  serious  problems 
of  life  that  they  become  impatient  with  the 
lighter  side  of  living  as  being  frothy  and  silly, 
and  the  man  who  allows  himself  to  get  so  thor- 
oughly wedded  to  business  that  he  can  see  no 
good  in  the  social  life  is  his  own  worst  enemy. 
He  becomes  unprofitable  to  himself,  and  uninter- 
esting to  other  people.  He  stagnates.  Nothing 
in  the  world  can  make  a  man  more  thoroughly 
selfish  and  so  forgetful  of  the  rights  and  com- 
forts of  those  in  his  home  as  too  close  an  appli- 
cation to  business. 

Every  young  man  must  have  a  certain  amount 
of  social  life.  It  is  good  for  him.  His  nature 
demands  it.  We  must  play  in  order  to  work 
better.  The  mind  needs  a  change  of  thought 
just  as  the  body  needs  a  change  of  raiment.  A 
wholesome  social  life  broadens  a  young  man  ;  it 
rounds  him  out.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
are  young  men  who  go  to  excess  in  their  social 
life,  and  this  is  just  as  deadly  as  the  other  is 
stagnating.  Social  pleasures  are  like  everything 
else  in  this  world ;  their  dangers  lie  not  in  their 
use  but  in  their  abuse. 


1/4       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

No  mind  can  be  fresh  in  the  morning  that  has 
been  kept  at  a  tension  the  night  before  by  late 
hours.  A  young  man  at  twenty-five  needs  more 
sleep  than  does  a  man  at  fifty.  It  is  his  building 
time.  Any  young  man,  who,  except  on  rare 
occasions,  grants  himself  less  than  eight  hours 
sleep  robs  himself  of  just  so  much  vitality.  Asleep 
by  eleven  and  up  by  seven  is  a  course  which 
hundreds  of  successful  men  have  laid  out  for 
themselves.  A  man  to  be  a  factor  in  the  busi- 
ness world  must  have  a  fresh  mind  and  a  clear 
brain,  and  that  is  only  possible  when  he  gives 
them  proper  rest. 

Taking  a  young  man  to  task  for  questionable 
pleasures  always  brings  up  the  story  of  the 
young  English  curate  who  was  censured  by  his 
bishop  for  going  fox-hunting.  It  seemed  to  the 
bishop  to  be  too  worldly.  The  young  minister 
replied  that  his  fox-hunting  did  not  seem  to  him 
any  more  worldly  than  did  the  fact  of  the  bishop's 
presence  at  a  large  masquerade  ball  a  few  even- 
ings before.  The  bishop  explained  that  while 
it  was  true  he  had  been  visiting  at  the  house 
where  the  ball  had  been  taking  place,  he  had  not 
been  within  three  rooms  of  the  dancing  any  time 
during  the  evening.  "  Oh,  well,  if  it  comes  to 
that,"  said  the  young  minister,  "  I  never  get 
within  three  fields  of  the  hounds." 

There  is  no  sense  in  saying  to  an  active, 
healthy  young  fellow  that  he  must  sit  at  home  five 


THE  KEYS  TO  SUCCESS.  175 

nights  of  the  week  and  read  a  book,  and  the 
other  secular  night  go  out  and  take  a  nice  little 
walk.     He  won't  do  it.     It's  unnatural. 

Now  young  men  often  ask  what  are  the  social 
pleasures  and  indulgences  which  seriously  affect 
a  young  man's  success?  A  specific  answer  can 
not  be  given.  No  one  set  of  rules  can  be  applied 
to  all.  An  exhilarating  pleasure  to  one  is  often 
a  positive  injury  to  another.  The  only  rule  by 
which  a  young  man  can  live  in  his  social  life  is 
this :  Any  social  pleasure  which  affects  a  young 
man's  health,  which  clouds  his  mind,  from  which 
he  rises  the  next  morning  tired  rather  than 
refreshed,  is  bad  for  him  and  affects  his  success. 
Good  health  is  the  foundation  of  all  possible 
success  in  life ;  affect  the  one  and  you  affect  the 
other.  If  a  pleasure  refreshes  and  elevates  your 
mind  and  body  and  you  feel  better  for  it  the 
next  morning,  that  is  a  pleasure  good  for  you. 
Only  one  point  of  self-indulgence  do  I  wish  this 
evening  to  dwell  upon  in  a  specific  manner,  and 
that  is  indulgence  in  alcoholic  liquors.  When  I 
speak  of  this  question  I  take  it  entirely  away  from 
any  religious  or  moral  standpoint.  To  me  it  is 
not  a  question  of  whether  it  is  right  or  wrong  for  a 
young  man  to  indulge  in  spirituous  liquors.  It 
is  rather  can  he  do  it  than  should  he  do  it.  Is  it 
wise,  rather  than  is  it  wrong.  And  I  say  to  him 
plainly  and  directly  that  he  cannot  do  it.  Sim- 
ply take  the  hard,  common  sense  view  of  it.     The 


1 76       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

temporary  exhilaration  which  is  supposed  to 
come  from  alcohol  is  unnecessary  to  a  young 
man  in  good  health.  Therefore  it  can  do  him 
absolutely  no  good.  But  it  may  do  him  harm. 
The  chances  are  that  it  will.  And  no  young  man 
can  afford  to  take  a  single  risk  or  chance  in  the 
morning  of  a  business  career.  He  needs  the 
unhampered  use  of  all  his  powers,  of  all  his 
health,  of  all  his  intellect,  and  all  his  manners. 

Prudence  is  teaching  men  that  they  cannot 
afford  to  have  habits  which  put  their  health  and 
self-control  in  peril.  One  sees  this  moderation 
in  all  things.  See  how  swearing  is  going  out  of 
vogue.  The  man  whose  speech  is  punctuated 
with  the  oaths  which  characterized  the  conversa- 
tion of  a  gentleman  in  former  days  is  to-day 
stamped  as  vulgar,  as  coarse. 

The  drunkard  to-day  is  declared  a  nuisance  in 
the  same  society  which  only  a  few  years  back 
shielded  his  weakness.  Coarse  indulgences  of  all 
kinds  have  fallen  under  reproach.  They  are 
offensive  to  good  taste. 

So  to  say  to  a  young  man  to  study  self-control, 
self-poise,  temperance,  moderation,  is  not  alone 
to  tell  him  what  is  best  for  him,  but  it  is  to  place 
him  exactly  in  line  with  the  tendencies  of  other 
men. 


EQ  UIFMEN  T  FOR  SER  VICE.  I J  J 

Equipment  for  Service. 

WooDROw  Wilson,  LL.D. 
President  of  Princeton  University. 

There  are  other  things  besides  material  suc- 
cess with  which  we  must  supply  our  generation. 
It  must  be  supplied  with  men  who  care  more  for 
principles  than  for  money,  for  the  right  adjust- 
ments of  life  than  for  the  gross  accumulations  of 
profit.  The  problems  that  call  for  sober  thought- 
fulness  and  mere  devotion  are  as  pressing  as  those 
which  call  for  practical  efficiency.  We  are  here  not 
merely  to  release  the  faculties  of  men  for  their 
own  use,  but  also  to  quicken  their  social  under- 
standing, instruct  their  consciences,  and  give  them 
the  catholic  vision  of  those  who  know  their  just 
relations  to  their  fellow  men.  Here  in  America, 
for  every  man  touched  with  nobility,  for  every 
man  touched  with  the  spirit  of  our  institutions, 
social  service  is  the  high  law  of  duty,  and  every 
American  university  must  square  its  standards 
by  that  law  or  lack  its  national  title.J  It  is  serv- 
ing the  nation  to  give  men  the  enlightments  of 
a  general  training ;  it  is  serving  the  nation  to 
equip  fit  men  for  thorough  scientific  investiga- 
tion and  for  the  tasks  of  exact  scholarship,  for 
science  and  scholarship  carry  the  truth  forward 
from  generation  to  generation  and  give  the  cer- 
tain touch  of  knowledge  to  the  processes  of  life. 


1/8       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

But  the  whole  service  demanded  is  not  rendered 
until  something  is  added  to  the  mere  training  of 
the  undergraduate  and  the  mere  equipment  of 
the  investigator,  something  ideal  and  of  the  very 
spirit  of  all  action.  The  final  synthesis  of  learn- 
ing is  in  philosophy.  You  shall  most  clearly 
judge  the  spirit  of  a  university  if  you  judge  it  by 
the  philosophy  it  teaches  ;  and  the  philosophy  of 
conduct  is  what  every  wise  man  should  wish  to 
derive  from  his  knowledge  of  the  thoughts  and 
the  affairs  of  the  generations  that  have  gone 
before  him.  We  are  not  put  into  this  world  to 
sit  still  and  know  ;  we  are  put  into  it  to  act. 

It  is  true  that  in  order  to  learn,  men  must  for 
a  little  while  withdraw  from  action,  must  seek 
some  quiet  place  remote  from  the  bustle  of 
affairs,  where  their  thoughts  may  run  clear  and 
tranquil,  and  the  heats  of  business  be  for  the 
time  put  off  ;  but  that  cloistered  refuge  is  no 
place  to  dream  in.  It  is  a  place  for  the  first  con- 
spectus of  the  mind,  for  a  thoughtful  poring  upon 
the  map  of  life  ;  and  the  boundaries  which  should 
emerge  to  the  mind's  eye  are  not  more  the  intel- 
lectual than  the  moral  boundaries  of  thought 
and  action.  /The  argument  for  efficiency  in  edu- 
cation can  have  no  permanent  validity  if  the 
efficiency  sought  be  not  moral  as  well  as  intellect- 
ual. The  ages  of  strong  and  definite  moral 
impulse  have  been  the  ages  of  achievement ;  and 
the   moral   impulses  which   have  lifted   highest 


THE  WORLD  A   WHISPERING  GALLERY.      1/9 

have  come  from  Christian  peoples, — the  moving 
history  of  our  own  nation  were  proof  enough  of 
that.  Moral  efficiency  is,  in  the  last  analysis, 
the  fundamental  argument  for  liberal  culture. 
A  merely  literary  education,  got  out  of  books 
and  old  literatures  is  a  poor  thing  enough  if  the 
teacher  stick  at  grammatical  and  syntactical  drill , 
but  if  it  be  indeed  an  introduction  into  the 
thoughtful  labors  of  men  of  all  generations  it  may 
be  made  the  prologue  to  the  mind's  emancipa- 
tion:  its  emancipation  from  narrowness, — from 
narrowness  of  sympathy,  of  perception,  of  motive, 
of  purpose,  and  of  hope.  And  the  deep  fountains 
of  Christian  teaching  are  its  most  refreshing 
springs. 


The  World  a  Whispering  Gallery. 

Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  D.D. 

From  "Right  Living  as  a  Fine  Art."  Copyright,  1898, 
1899,  by  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company.     Used  by  permission. 

When  the  sage  counsels  us  "  to  listen  to  stars 
and  birds,  to  babes  and  sages,"  he  opens  to  us 
the  secrets  of  the  soul's  increase  in  wisdom  and 
happiness.  All  culture  begins  with  listening. 
Growth  is  not  through  shrewd  thinking  or  elo- 
quent speaking,  but  through  accurate  seeing  and 
hearing.  Our  world  is  one  vast  whispering  gal- 
lery, yet  only  those  who  listen  hear  *'  the  still. 


1 80       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

small  voice  "  of  truth.  Putting  his  ear  down  to 
the  rocks,  the  listening  geologist  hears  the  story 
of  the  rocks.  Standing  under  the  stars,  the  lis- 
tening astronomer  hears  the  music  of  the  spheres. 
Leaving  behind  the  din  and  dirt  of  the  city, 
Agassiz  plunged  into  the  forests  of  the  Amazon, 
and  listening  to  boughs  and  buds  and  birds  he 
found  out  all  their  secrets. 

One  of  our  wisest  teachers  has  said,  "The 
greatest  thing  a  human  soul  ever  does  in  this 
world,  is  to  see  something,  and  to  tell'what  it  saw 
in  a  plain  way.  Hundreds  of  people  can  talk, 
for  one  who  can  think.  But  thousands  can  think 
for  one  who  can  see ;  to  see  clearly  is  poetry, 
prophecy  and  religion  all  in  one.  Therefore 
finding  the  world  of  literature  more  or  less 
divided  into  thinkers  and  seers,  I  believe  we 
shall  find  also,  that  the  seers  are  wholly  the 
greater  race  of  the  two."  For  greatness  is 
vision. 

Opening  his  ears.  Watt  hears  the  movement  of 
steam  and  finds  his  fortune.  Millet  explained 
his  fame  by  saying  he  copied  the  colors  of  the 
sunset  at  the  moment  when  reapers  bow  the 
head  in  silent  prayer.  The  great  bard,  too,  tells 
us  he  went  apart  and  listened  to  "  find  sermons  in 
stones,  and  books  in  the  running  brooks." 

It  is  a  proverb  that  pilgrims  to  foreign  lands 
find  only  what  they  take  with  them.  Riding 
over  the  New  England  hills  near  Boston,  Lowell 


THE  WORLD  A   WHISPERING  GALLERY.      l8l 

spake  not  to  his  companion,  for  now  he  was 
looking  out  upon  the  pageantry  of  a  glorious 
October  day,  and  now  he  remembered  that  this 
was  the  road  forever  associated  with  Paul  Re- 
vere's  ride.  Reaching  the  outskirts  of  Cambridge, 
he  roused  from  his  reverie  to  discover  that  his 
silent  companion  had  been  brooding  over  bales 
and  barrels,  not  knowing  that  this  had  been  one 
of  those  rare  days  when  October  holds  an  art 
exhibit,  and  also  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  he 
had  been  passing  through  scenes  historic  through 
the  valor  of  a  brave  man. 

Of  the  four  artists  copying  the  same  landscape 
near  Chamouni,  all  saw  a  different  scene.  To  an 
idler  a  river  means  a  fish  pole,  to  a  heated  school 
boy  a  bath  ;  to  the  man  of  affairs  the  stream  sug- 
gests a  turbine  wheel;  while  the  same  stream 
leads  the  philosopher  to  reflect  upon  the  influence 
of  great  rivers  upon  cities  and  civilizations. 
Coleridge  thought  the  bank  of  his  favorite  stream 
was  made  to  lie  down  upon,  but  Bunyan,  behold- 
ing the  stream  through  the  iron  bars  of  a  prison 
cell,  felt  the  breezes  of  the  "  Delectable  Moun- 
tains "  cool  his  fevered  cheek,  and  stooping  down 
he  wet  his  parched  lips  with  the  river  of  the 
waters  of  life.  Nature  has  no  message  for  heed- 
less, inattentive  hearers.  It  is  possible  for  a 
youth  to  go  through  life  deaf  to  the  sweetest 
sounds  that  ever  fell  over  Heaven's  battlements, 
and  blind  to  the  beauty  of  landscape  and  moun- 


1 8  2       BES  T  A  ME  RICA  N  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO- DA  Y. 

tain  and  sea  and  sky.  There  is  no  music  in  the 
autumn  wind  until  the  listener  comes.  There  is 
no  order  and  beauty  in  the  rolling  spheres  until 
some  Herschel  stands  beneath  the  stars.  There 
is  no  fragrance  in  the  violet  until  the  lover  of 
flowers  bends  down  above  the  blossoms. 

Listening  to  stars,  Laplace  heard  the  story  how 
fire  mists  are  changed  to  habitable  earths,  and  so 
became  wise  toward  iron  and  wood,  steel  and 
stone.  Listening  to  birds,  Cuvier  heard  the 
song  within  the  shell  and  found  out  the  life  his- 
tory of  all  things  that  creep  or  swim  or  fly. 
Listening  to  babes  that  have,  as  Froebel  thought, 
been  so  recently  playmates  with  angels,  the  phil- 
osopher discovered  the  teachableness,  trust  and 
purity  of  childhood,  the  secret  of  individual 
happiness  and  progress.  Listening  to  sages,  the 
youth  of  to-day  garners  into  the  storehouse  of 
his  mind  all  the  intellectual  treasures  of  the  good 
and  great  of  past  ages.  That  youth  may  have 
culture  without  college  who  gives  heed  to 
Channing's  injunction  *'  to  listen  to  stars  and 
birds,  to  babes  and  sages." 


Growth  :  An  Evidence  of  Education. 

Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  LL.D. 
President  of  Columbia  University. 

There  is  a  type  of  mind  which,  when  trained 
to  a  certain   point,  crystallizes,  as  it  were,  and 


GRO  WTH :  AN  E  VIDENCE  OF  EDUCA  TION.       1 83 

refuses  to  move  forward  thereafter.  This  type 
of  mind  fails  to  give  one  of  the  essential  evi- 
dences of  an  education.  It  has  perhaps  acquired 
much  and  promised  much ;  but  somehow  or 
other  the  promise  is  not  fulfilled.  It  is  not  dead, 
but  in  a  trance.  Only  such  functions  are  per- 
formed as  serve  to  keep  it  where  it  is  ;  there  is 
no  movement,  no  development,  no  new  power  or 
accomplishment.  The  impulse  to  continuous 
study,  and  to  that  self-education  which  are  the 
conditions  of  permanent  intellectual  growth,  is 
wanting.  Education  has  so  far  failed  of  one  of 
its  chief  purposes. 

A  human  mind  continuing  to  grow  and  to 
develop  throughout  a  long  life  is  a  splendid  and 
impressive  sight.  It  was  that  characteristic  in 
Mr.  Gladstone  which  made  his  personality  so 
attractive  to  young  and  ambitious  men.  They 
were  fired  by  his  zeal  and  inspired  by  his  limit- 
less intellectual  energy.  To  have  passed  from 
being  *'  the  rising  hope  of  the  stern  and  unbend- 
ing Tories  "  in  1838  to  the  unchallenged  leader- 
ship of  the  anti-Tory  party  in  Great  Britain  a 
generation  later,  and  to  have  continued  to  grow 
throughout  an  exceptionally  long  life,  is  no  mean 
distinction  ;  and  it  is  an  example  of  what,  in  less 
conspicuous  ways,  is  the  lot  of  every  mind  whose 
training  is  effective.  Broadened  views,  widened 
sympathies,  deepened  insights,  are  the  accompani- 
ments of  growth. 


1 84       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

For  this  growth  a  many-sided  interest  is  nec- 
essary, and  this  is  why  growth  and  intellectual 
and  moral  narrowness  are  eternally  at  war. 
There  is  much  in  our  modern  education  which  is 
uneducational  because  it  makes  growth  difficult, 
if  not  impossible.  Early  specialization,  with  its 
attendant  limited  range  both  of  information  and 
of  interest,  is  an  enemy  of  growth.  Turning 
from  the  distasteful  before  it  is  understood  is  an 
enemy  of  growth.  Failure  to  see  the  relation  of 
the  subject  of  one's  special  interest  to  other  sub- 
jects is  an  enemy  of  growth.  The  pretense  of 
investigation  and  discovery  before  mastering 
existent  knowledge  is  an  enemy  of  growth.  The 
habit  of  cynical  indifference  toward  men  and 
things  and  of  aloofness  from  them,  sometimes 
supposed  to  be  peculiarly  academic,  is  an  enemy 
of  growth.  These,  then,  are  all  to  be  shunned 
while  formal  education  is  going  on,  if  it  is  to 
carry  with  it  the  priceless  gift  of  an  impulse  to 
continuous  growth.  **  Life,"  says  Bishop  Spald- 
ing in  an  eloquent  passage,  "  is  the  unfolding  of 
a  mysterious  power,  which  in  man  rises  to  self- 
consciousness,  and  through  self-consciousness  to 
the  knowledge  of  a  world  of  truth  and  order  and 
love,  where  action  may  no  longer  be  left  wholly 
to  the  sway  of  matter  or  to  the  impulse  of 
instinct,  but  may  and  should  be  controlled  by 
reason  and  conscience.  To  further  this  process 
by  deliberate  and  intelligent  effort  is  to  educate  " 


PATRIOTISM,  185 

— and  to  educate  so  as  to  sow  the  seed  of  con- 
tinuous growth,  intellectual  and  moral. 


Patriotism. 

Hon.  Charles  Emory  Smith. 

Contributed  by  the  author. 

The  sentiment  of  patriotism  naturally  enshrines 
itself  in  the  supreme  crisis  of  its  trial  and  triumph, 
and  in  its  supreme  personal  types.  With  Ameri- 
cans it  turns  instinctively  to  the  two  master 
epochs  and  the  two  master  heroes  of  our  history. 
Each  epoch  developed  illustrious  leaders.  The 
period  of  the  Civil  War  and  its  preparatory  strug- 
gle was  resplendent  with  its  matchless  group  of 
marvelous  men  who  have  commanded  the  admir- 
ation of  the  world.  There  was  Seward,  with  his 
long  leadership,  his  acute  vision  and  his  brilliant 
statecraft ;  there  was  Douglas,  who  was  the  Rup- 
ert of  debate  and  the  stormy  petrel  of  our  most 
turbulent  politics  ;  there  was  Grant,  with  his  con- 
quering sword  in  the  field,  and  Stevens,  with  his 
flaming  fire  in  the  forum.  But  out  of  Illinois, 
untrained,  untutored,  except  in  the  self-commun-. 
ion  of  his  own  great  soul,  came  the  God-given 
Chieftain  to  whom  the  acknowledged  princes  of 
statesmanship  and  oratory  were  fain  to  yield  fhe 
sceptre  of  supremacy,  and  whose  serene  faith  and 
sublime  inspiration  and  almost  divine  prescience 
have  not  been  surpassed  i^  all  the  long  and  glow- 


1 86       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

ing  story  of  liberty's  march  and  humanity's  prog- 
ress. And  thus  in  the  incarnation  of  patriotism 
we  offer  our  never-ending  homage  at  the  shrine 
of  Lincoln, the  saviour  of  the  Union. 

The  love  of  country  is  a  flame  that  burns  in 
every  true  heart.  But  country  is  not  simply 
rock  and  dell,  or  blooming  field  or  stately  struc- 
ture ;  it  is  not  alone  material  or  geographical.  It 
was  not  the  glory  of  the  Parthenon  that  kindled 
the  passion  of  the  Athenian.  It  was  not  the 
grandeur  of  the  towering  Alps  that  moved  Win- 
kelried  to  gather  in  his  breast  the  sheaf  of 
Austrian  spears,  and  through  his  own  sacrifice 
make  a  triumphal  pathway  for  his  struggling 
compatriots.  It  was  not  the  gleaming  heather,  or 
the  bonnie  blue  lakes  of  the  highlands,  loved  as 
they  were,  which  fired  "  the  Scots  who  ha'  with 
Wallace  bled."  The  inspiration  of  these  glorious 
deeds  was  the  love  of  liberty  and  the  pride  of 
principle  which  found  their  home  in  the  mountain 
fastness  and  in  the  classic  grove.  The  Greece 
and  Switzerland  and  Scotland  which  held  the  de- 
votion of  their  sons  were  not  the  outward  symbol 
but  the  inward  life  and  the  historic  character 
which  stamped  their  attributes  and  their  aspira- 
tions. 

And  so  our  country,  in  its  true  significance, 
means  its  essence  and  not  simply  its  substance. 
The  American  Republic  is  not  domain ;  it  is  not 
power  ;  it  is  not  wealth  ;  it  is  embodied  liberty 


THE  PURSUIT  OF  HAPPINESS.  1 8/ 

regulated  by  law  ;  it  is  liberty  resting  upon  organ- 
ized institutions,  through  which  society  and  civi- 
lization may  blossom  into  their  fullest  and  fair- 
est flower. 


The  Pursuit  of  Happiness. 

Charles  Dudley  Warner. 

Perhaps  the  most  curious  and  interesting  phrase 
ever  put  into  a  public  document  is  **  the  pursuit 
of  happiness."  It  is  declared  to  be  an  inalienable 
right.  It  cannot  be  sold.  It  cannot  be  given 
away.  It  is  doubtful  if  it  can  be  left  by  will. 
The  right  of  every  man  to  be  six  feet  high  and  of 
every  woman  to  be  five  feet  four  was  regarded 
as  self-evident,  until  women  asserted  their  un- 
doubted right  to  be  six  feet  high  also,  when  some 
confusion  was  introduced  into  the  interpretation 
of  this  rhetorical  fragment  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 

The  pursuit  of  happiness  !  It  is  not  strange 
that  men  call  it  an  illusion.  But  I  am  satisfied 
that  it  is  not  the  thing  itself,  but  the  pursuit, 
that  is  an  illusion.  Instead  of  thinking  of  the 
pursuit,  why  not  fix  our  thoughts  upon  the  mo- 
ments, the  hours,  perhaps  the  days,  of  this  divine 
peace,  this  merriment  of  body  and  mind,  that 
can  be  repeated,  and  perhaps  indefinitely  ex- 
tended by  the  simplest  of  all  means,  namely,  the 


1 88       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

disposition  to  make  the  best  of  whatever  comes 
to  us?  Perhaps  the  Latin  poet  was  right  in  say- 
ing that  no  man  can  count  himself  happy  while  in 
this  life,  that  is,  in  a  continuous  state  of  happi- 
ness ;  but  as  there  is  for  the  soul  no  time  save  the 
conscious  moment  called  "  now,"  it  is  quite  possi- 
ble to  make  that  "  now  "  a  happy  state  of  exis- 
tence. The  point  I  make  is  that  we  should  not 
habitually  postpone  that  season  of  happiness  to 
the  future. 

SoiTietimes  wandering  in  a  primeval  forest,  in 
all  the  witchery  of  the  woods,  besought  by  the 
kindliest  solicitations  of  nature,  wild  flowers  in 
the  trail,  the  call  of  the  squirrel,  the  flutter  of  the 
bird,  the  great  world-music  of  the  wind  in  the 
pine-tops,  the  flecks  of  sunlight  on  the  brown  car- 
pet and  on  the  rough  bark  of  the  ifnmemorial  trees, 
I  find  myself  unconsciously  postponing  my  enjoy- 
ment until  I  shall  reach  a  hoped-for  open  place  of 
full  sun  and  boundless  prospect. 

The  analogy  cannot  be  pushed,  for  it  is  the 
common  experience  that  these  open  spots  in  life, 
where  leisure  and  space  and  contentment  await  us, 
are  usually  grown  up  with  thickets,  fuller  of  ob- 
stacles, to  say  nothing  of  the  labors  and  duties 
and  difficulties,  than  any  part  of  the  weary  path 
we  have  trod. 

The  pitiful  part  of  this  inalienable  right  to  the 
pursuit  of  happiness  is,  however,  that  most  men  in- 
terpret it  to  mean  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  and  strive 


CAPITAL  AND  CONSOLIDATION  OF  LABOR.     1 89 

for  that  always,  postponing  being  happy  until 
they  get  a  fortune,  and  if  they  are  lucky  in  that, 
find  in  the  end  that  the  happiness  has  somehow- 
eluded  them,  that,  in  short,  they  have  not  cultivat- 
ed that  in  themselves  which  alone  can  bring  hap- 
piness. More  than  that,  they  have  lost  the  power 
of  the  enjoyment  of  the  essential  pleasures  of  life. 
I  think  that  the  woman  in  the  Scriptures  who  out 
of  her  poverty  put  her  mite  into  the  contribution- 
box  got  more  happiness  out  of  that  driblet  of 
generosity  and  s^lf-sacrifice  than  some  men  in  our 
day  have  experienced  in  founding  a  university. 


Combination  of  Capital    and    Consolidation 
of  Labor. 

Justice  David  J.  Brewer. 

The  most  noticeable  social  fact  of  to-day  is  that 
of  the  combination  of  capital  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  labor.  Whatever  may  be  the  causes,  and 
whatever  may  be  the  results,  good  or  bad,  the 
fact  is  beyond  dispute  that  the  trend  of  the  two 
great  industrial  forces  of  capital  and  labor  is 
along  the  line  of  consolidation  and  co-operation. 
I  am  not  here  to  decry  this  tendency.  I  realize 
full  well  that  only  through  this  movement  are 
the  great  material  achievements  of  the  day  pos- 
sible ;  but  one  thing  is  clear,  and  that  is  that  the 
penalty  which  the  nation  pays  for  all  its  benefits 


190       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

is  the  growing  disposition  to  sacrifice  the  individ- 
ual to  the  mass,  to  make  the  Hberty  of  the  one 
something  which  may  be  ruthlessly  trampled  into 
the  dust,  because  of  some  supposed  benefit  to 
the  many. 

A  capital  combine  may,  as  it  is  claimed,  produce 
better,  cheaper  and  more  satisfactory  results  in 
manufacture,  transportation,  and  general  busi- 
ness ;  but  too  often  the  combine  is  not  content 
with  the  voluntary  co-operation  of  such  as  choose 
to  join.  It  grasps  at  monopoly,  and  seeks  to 
*  crush  out  all  competition.  If  any  individual  pre- 
fers his  independent  business,  however  small, 
and  refuses  to  join  the  combine,  it  proceeds  to 
assail  that  business.  With  its  accumulation  of 
wealth  it  can  afford  for  a  while  to  so  largely 
undersell  as  to  speedily  destroy  it.  It  thus 
crushes  or  swallows  the  individual,  and  he  is 
assaulted  as  though  he  were  an  outlaw. 

So  it  is  with  the  organizations  of  labor;  the 
leaders  order  a  strike ;  the  organization  throws 
down  its  tools  and  ceases  to  work.  No  individ- 
ual member  dare  say :  "  I  have  a  family  to  sup- 
port, I  prefer  to  work,"  but  is  forced  to  go  with 
the  general  body.  Not  content  with  this,  the 
organization  too  often  attempts  by  force  to  keep 
away  other  laborers.  It  stands  with  its  accumu- 
lated power  of  numbers,  not  merely  to  coerce  its 
individual  members,  but  also  to  threaten  any 
outsiders  who  seek  to  take  their  places.     Where 


THE  FLAG.  I9I 

is  the  individual  laborer  who  dares  assert  his 
liberty  and  act  as  he  pleases  in  the  matter  of 
work ;  where  is  the  individual  contractor  or 
employer  who  can  carry  on  his  business  as  he 
thinks  best  ? 

The  business  men  are  becoming  slaves  of  the 
combine ;  the  laborers  of  the  trades*  union. 
Through  the  land  the  idea  is  growing  that  the 
individual  is  nothing  and  that  the  organization  is 
everything  ;  and  we  have  the  fancy  sketch  of  the 
dreamer  of  a  supposed  ideal  state,  in  which  the 
individual  has  no  choice  of  lot  or  toil,  but  is 
moved  about  according  to  the  supposed  superior 
wisdom  of  the  organized  mass  ;  and  this,  we  are 
told,  is  the  liberty  for  which  the  ages  have  toiled, 
and  for  which  human  blood  has  crimsoned  the 
earth. 


The  Flag. 

Wallace  Bruce. 
Contributed  to  this  collection  by  Mr.  Bruce. 

The  only  factor  in  the  integral  of  God's  sov- 
ereignty is  tHe  individual ;  the  only  factor  in  the 
multiple  of  this  great  nation  is  the  unit.  There 
were  nineteen  families  in  the  Mayflower — an  indi- 
visible number.  There  were  thirteen  stripes  and 
thirteen  stars  in  the  old  flag,  indivisible  from  its 


192     BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

birth.  If  any  man  individually  wishes  to  secede, 
he  can  come  and  go  at  his  pleasure.  Blackstone 
defines  liberty  as  the  right  of  locomotion  ;  but 
no  man  or  body  of  men  can  walk  off  with  twenty 
square  feet  of  the  sacred  soil  of  old  Virginia  or 
a  quarter  of  a  school  district  in  Massachusetts. 
That  question  has  been  decided  once  and  for- 
ever. 

The  serpent  of  State  sovereignty  that  found  its 
way  into  the  Paradise  of  our  new  Republic,  and 
coiled  itself  Laocoonlike  around  the  limbs  of  the 
young  nation,  has  been  consigned  to  a  deeper 
Pandemonium  than  dreamed  of  by  Dante  or  Mil- 
ton. 

The  power  and  supremacy  of  the  flag  have 
been  established — the  enduring  symbol  of  the 
nation's  authority ;  and  I  have  great  respect  for 
the  home-rearing  of  that  little  boy  who  when  asked 
in  Sunday-School,  which  was  the  best  verse  in  the 
Bible,  replied,  "If  any  man  attempts  to  haul 
down  the  American  flag  shoot  him  on  the  spot." 
His  home-training  for  American  citizenship  had 
not  been  neglected,  -and  ^^Arporcryphal:" "verse, 
printed  in  bold  type,  would  not  injure  a  leaf  of 
any  volume  of  Holy  Writ. 

You  remember  how  General  Dix,  who  had 
been  Secretary  of  War  only  eleven  days,  sent 
out  that  glorious  message,  the  first  to  thrill  the 
Northern  heart.  In  that  sentence,  the  flag 
became   America !      Ten   thousand  men   might 


THE  FLAG,  1 93 

have  been  shot  down  in  the  streets  of  cities  in 
revolt,  and  some  excuse  been  devised  to  cover 
the  crime ;  but  when  the  Flag  was  assailed,  the 
people  of  the  North  came  like  a  great  avalanche, 
increasing  as  it  swept,  until  two  million  brave 
men  went  to  the  front  in  the  cause  of  Liberty. 

We  are  here  to-day,  children  of  a  great  Repub- 
lic, crowned  with  the  greatest  freedom.  Do  we 
know  how  to  appreciate  its  value  ?  Some  of 
you  here  gathered  know  what  it  cost.  Count 
it  not  in  the  cold  figures  of  arithmetic  or  in  the 
value  of  the  individual  man  in  the  world's  com- 
merce. 

By  the.  vacant  chairs  at  so  many  firesides,  by 
the  privations,  by  the  heart  agony,  by  the  sleep- 
less nights  and  long  vigils,  by  the  deeds  and 
sufferings  of  heroic  women,  by  the  tears  of 
mother,  wife  and  sister,  by  the  bowed  head  of 
the  gray-haired  man  from  whom  went  forth  the 
joy  and  support  of  his  declining  years,  by  the 
great  army  of  martyrsfoy  the  brave  women  who 
laid  down  their  lives  in  fever  hospitals,  and  in 
the  prcDcnce  of-tlia4r^FQd.Jwb.o  listens  to  the  cry 
of  the  rave'nV  ay;  ^*  caters,  provlderitially  for  the 
sparrow,"  tell  me,  if  you  can,  the  price  of  yonder 
syfribol  ? 

The  offerings  that  we  bring  fade  away  and 
perish,  but  the  glory  you  won  is  immortal.  No 
wonder  in  the  midst  of  these  Providences  that  the 
whole   land,   from   the   pines   of   Maine   to   the 


194     BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY, 

forests  of  the  Sierras,  on  days  like  these,  wakes 
to  the  reveille  of  the  morning  stars,  and  brings 
its  offerings  to  the  dead  soldiers  until  night 
stations  her  starry  pickets  above  their  graves. 

Brave  boys  are  they  !  gone  at  their  country's 
call !  How  the  old  songs  come  back,  and  eyes 
grow  dim.  Their  hands  are  waiting  to  clasp 
yours  as  of  old,  and  their  lips  to  ask  what  of  the 
Great  Republic  for  which  they  died.  As  one  by 
one  you  go  to  join  the  heroic  throng,  gathering 
for  the  last  great  muster,  take  this  message,  "  We 
have  one  country,  one  people,  free  and  united, 
from  gulf  to  lake,  from  sea  to  sea." 


Modern  Fiction. 
Opie  p.  Read. 

The  drift  of  latter-day  fiction  is  largely  shown 
by  the  department  store.  The  selling  of  books 
by  the  ton  proves  a  return  to  the  extremes  of 
romanticism.  People  do  not  jostle  one  another 
in  their  eagerness  to  secure  even  a  semblance  of 
the  truth.  The  taste  of  to-day  is  a  strong  appe- 
tite for  fadism  ;  and  a  novel  to  be  successful 
must  bear  the  stamp  of  society  rather  than  the 
approval  of  the  critic.  The  reader  has  gone 
slumming,  and  must  be  shocked  in  order  to  be 
amused.  Reviewers  tell  us  of  a  revolt  against 
realism^  that   we  no   longer   fawn    upon   a  dull 


MODERN  fiction:  •  1 95 

truth,  that  we  crave  gauze  rather  than  substance. 
In  fact,  realism  was  never  a  fad.  Truth  has 
never  been  fashionable;  no  society  takes  up 
philosophy  as  an  amusement. 

But  after  all,  popular  taste  does  not  make  a 
literature.  Strength  does  not  meet  with  immedi- 
ate recognition  ;  originality  is  more  often  con- 
demned than  praised.  The  intense  book  often 
dies  with  one  reading,  its  story  is  a  wild  pigeon 
of  the  mind,  and  sails  away  to  be  soon  forgotten  ; 
but  the  novel  in  which  there  is  even  one  real 
character,  one  man  of  the  soil,  remains  with  us 
as  a  friend.  In  the  minds  of  thinking  people, 
realism  cannot  be  supplanted.  But  by  realism, 
I  do  not  mean  the  commonplace  details  of  any 
interesting  household,  nor  the  hired  man  with 
mud  on  his  cowhide  boots,  nor  the  whining 
farmer  who  sits  with  his  feet  on  the  kitchen-stove, 
but  the  glory  that  we  find  in  nature  and  the 
grandeur  that  we  find  in  man,  his  bravery,  honor, 
his  self-sacrifice,  his  virtue.  Realism  does  not 
mean  the  unattractive.  A  rose  is  as  real  as  a 
toad.  And  a  realistic  novel  of  the  days  of  Caesar 
would  be  worth  more  than  Plutarch's  Lives. 

Every  age  sees  a  literary  revolution,  but  out  of 
that  revolution  there  may  come  no  great  work  of 
art.  The  best  fiction  is  the  unconscious  grace 
of  a  cultivated  mind,  a  catching  of  the  quaint 
humor  of  men,  a  soft  look  of  mercy,  and  a  sym- 
pathetic tear.     And  this  sort  of  a  book  may  be 


196     BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

neglected  for  years,  no  busy  critic  may  speak  a 
word  in  its  behalf,  but  there  comes  a  time  when 
by  the  merest  accident  a  great  mind  finds  it  and 
flashes  its  genius  back  upon  the  cloud  that  has 
hidden  it. 

Yes,  there  is  a  return  to  romanticism,  if  indeed 
there  was  ever  a  turn  from  it.  The  well-told 
story  has  ever  found  admirers.  To  the  world  all 
the  stories  have  not  been  told.  The  stars  show 
no  age,  and  the  sun  was  as  bright  yesterday  as  it 
was  the  morning  after  creation.  But  a  simple 
story  without  character  is  not  the  highest  form 
of  fiction.  It  is  a  story  that  may  become  a  fad, 
if  it  be  shocking  enough,  if  it  has  in  it  the  thrill 
of  delicious  wickedness,  but  it  cannot  live.  The 
literary  lion  of  to-day  may  be  the  literary  ass  of 
to-morrow,  but  the  ass  has  his  bin  full  of  oats 
and  cannot  complain. 

The  novel,  whether  it  be  of  classic  form  or  of 
faddish  type,  makes  a  mark  upon  the  mind  of  the 
public.  Fiction  is  a  necessary  element  of  modern 
education.  A  man  may  be  a  successful  physician 
or  a  noted  lawyer  without  having  read  a  novel ; 
but  he  could  not  be  regarded  as  a  man  of  refined 
culture.  A  novel  is  an  intellectual  luxury,  and 
in  the  luxuries  of  a  country  we  find  the  refine- 
ments of  a  nation.  It  was  not  invention  but 
fancy  that  made  Greece  great.  A  novel-reading 
nation  is  a  progressive  nation.  At  one  time  the 
most  successful  publication  in  this  country  was  a 


RECOGNIZE    THE   UNIONS.  IQ/ 

weekly  paper  filled  with  graceless  sensationalism, 
and  it  was  not  the  pulpit  nor  the  lecture-platform 
that  took  hold  of  the  public  taste  and  lifted  it 
above  this  trash — it  was  the  publication  in  cheap 
form  of  the  English  classics.  And  when  the 
mind  of  the  masses  had  been  thus  improved,  the 
magazine  became  a  success. 

One  slow  but  unmistakable  drift  of  fiction  is 
toward  the  short  story,  and  the  carefully  edited 
newspaper  may  hold  the  fiction  of  the  future. 


Recognize  the  Unions. 

M.  W.  Stryker,  LL.D. 
President  of  Hamilton  College. 

Unions  of  labor  have  come  to  stay.  Combi- 
nation and  "  community  of  interest "  are  their 
inherent  right,  also.  They  are  a  fact  and  a 
factor.  They  must  be  recognized.  They  are 
recognized,  even  in  denying  them  recognition. 
A  condition  must  be  reckoned  with.  "  Does  the 
gentleman," — said  the  matter  of  fact  Speaker 
Reed  to  one  who  violently  protested  to  the 
counting  of  the  actual  quorum, — **  Does  the  gen- 
tleman deny  that  he  is  present  ?  " 

Fingers  in  one's  ears,  is  an  ultimatum  that  two 
can  play  at.  To  hide  under  the  bedclothes  may 
comfort  the  child,  but  will  not  stop  the  thunder- 


198       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

storm.  Even  to  a  criminal  the  law  does  not  deny 
the  right  to  choose  his  own  attorney.  The  cre- 
dentials of  any  spokesman  are  from  those  who 
send  him,  not  from  those  to  whom  he  is  sent. 
The  principal  accredits  his  agent.  Organized 
capital  speaks  through  its  delegate  ;  organized 
labor  has  the  same  right.  If  a  given  envoy  is 
difficult,  austere,  or  offensive,  so  much  the  worse 
for  those  who  commission  him.  Either  party 
may  request  a  different  legate;  but  to  pre- 
scribe how  he  shall  be  chosen^  or  to  refuse  all,  is 
to  break  off  diplomatic  relations.  The  right  not 
to  deal  through  self-sent  meddlers,  does  not  mod- 
ify the  duty  to  recognize  those  who  are  properly 
endorsed.  Only  fatuity  challenges  the  right  of 
men  to  act  and  to  speak  collectively  and  .  by 
whom  they  will.  Obviously  one  hundred  thous- 
and workmen  cannot  state  their  case  separately 
to  ten  thousand  separate  stockholders,  or  to  ten 
executive  boards.  The  question,  as  to  Mr.  Baer, 
or  as  to  Mr.  Mitchell,  is  not  whether  he  is  in  the 
employ  of  those  to  whom  he  goes,  but  whether 
he  is  authorized  by  those  from  whom  he  comes. 
The  contention  of  the  operators  that  they  may 
dictate  just  how  their  men  shall  approach  them 
can  not  hold  its  ground  before  American  com- 
mon sense  and  fair  play.  It  will  fall  ;  it  falls 
already  ;  for  that  public  which  does  not  quibble 
knows  that  practically  the  United  Mine  Workers 
as  such,  and  in  the  person  of  John  Mitchell,  are 


RECOGNIZE    THE    UNIONS.  1 99 

before  both  the  commission  and  the  country. 
The  arbitrary  precept  issues,  so  far,  only  in  mu- 
tual exasperations,  and  furnishes  the  prolific 
opportunity  of  marplots.  Any  genuine  effort  to  - 
agree  must  listen  to  all  parties  claiming  to  be 
such. 

As  to  the  alleged  non-responsibility  of  the 
miners,  because  they  are  not  incorporated,  re- 
member that  since  they  cannot  be  enjoined  they 
cannot  enjoin.  It  is  even.  Further  remember 
that  their  adhesion  to  their  word  given  is  their 
whole  capital.  They  know  that  the  country 
watches  them  in  this  to  see  if  they  be  men. 
Under  immense  temptation  they  have  this  sum- 
mer past  kept  their  word.  It  is  much.  It  is 
enough.  Incorporation  may  be  a  wise  device  ; 
but  it  is  not  the  first  and  great  commandment ! 

As  to  "  compulsory  arbitration,"  who  wants  it? 
It  is  a  contradiction  in  terms.  The  essence  of  k 
arbitration  is  voluntary  consent  to  take  advice.  > 
If  its  obiter  dicta  are  amicably  accepted  it  is 
excellent.  If  it  can  compel  it  is  but  a  new  court, 
and  we  are  where  we  started.  Agreement  and 
litigation  are  two  opposite  ways.  If  arbitration 
could  be  compulsory  it  would  be  superfluous. 

Oh,  for  the  frank,  hearty  and  open  way,  with 
real  good  will  and  no  mental,  or  technical  reser- 
vations on  either  side,  satisfying  the  land  of  the 
intent  of  all  concerned  to  meet  all  open  ques- 
tions "  fair   and    square ! "     Why    not    take    the 


200       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

short  cut  and  disappoint  the  frantic,  the  mis- 
chievous, and  the  obtuse  !  All  the  strong-hearted, 
the  whole  land  over,  would  rejoice  to  see  the 
merely  headstrong  set  aside. 

"  Does  'business'  mean  'Die  you,  live  I  ?' 
Then  'Trade  is  trade'  but  sings  a  lie  ; 
'Tis  only  war  grown  miserly  !  " 

But,  and  moreover,  not  only  must  corporations 
give  the  freedom  they  take,  not  treating  equity 
as  a  thing  to  be  settled  by  an  exparte  dictum  ; 
they  must  also  admit  and  rectify  their  errors. 
The  public  at  present  believes  that  there  has 
been  evasion  of  law,  that  wages  have  been  in 
many  cases  (not  in  all)  inadequate,  that  the  hire- 
ling has  been  oppressed  by  compulsory  trade, 
that  overweight  tons  have  been  exacted,  that 
little  boys  have  been  cheated  of  life's  blessings 
by  premature  labor,  that  not  coal  alone,  but  the 
hearts  of  children  have  gone  into  the  *  breakers,' 
that  sacred  human  life  lies  among  the  slate  and 
the  culm. 

Is  it  true  ?  End  it!  Is  it  false?  For  God's 
sake  prove  it  so.  The  people  demand  to  know, 
and  when  they  know  they  will  somehow  compel 
substantial  justice,  before  that  vast,  law-abiding, 
conservative  opinion,  which,  just  because  Puri- 
tanism is  so  tremendously  extant  and  potent, 
will  get  itself  regarded  and  obeyed  !  An  asser- 
tion that  certain  men  are  "  the  trustees  of  God  " 


RECOGNIZE    THE    UNIONS.  201 

can  be  warranted  only  by  an  equitable  and  God- 
fearing administration  of  the  trust. 

All  possession,  is  a  public  trust.  Property  is 
sacred  only  because  person  is  sacred.  Ahab  may 
not  covet  Naboth's  vineyard,  for  the  little  is  as 
dear  to  him  to  whom  it  is  all,  as  the  much  is  to 
the  mighty. 

The  great  doctrine  of  *'  All  for  each,"  accepted, 
can  alone  replace  the  rights  "  strained  from  that 
fair  use,"  and  allay  the  antagonisms  of  labor 
against  other  labor,  of  capital  against  other  cap- 
ital, and  of  labor  and  capital  against  each  other. 

No  true  man  desires  to  eat  his  bread  only  in 
the  sweat  of  other  men's  brows.  There  is  some- 
thing higher  than  having,  it  is  being.  The  bit- 
terness of  attack  upon  other's  possessions  is  only 
a  new  proof  of  the  extraordinary  importance 
which  we  attach  to  possession  itself. 

"  While  it  doth  study  to  have  what  it  would, 
It  doth  forget  to  do  the  thing  it  should. " 

In  that  world  for  which  the  Carpenter  died, 
his  gospel  is  abroad.  *'  To  love  one's  neighbors 
as  one's  self  "  is  his  law.  To  Him  **the  chief  is 
the  servant  of  all."  To  "  do  business  upon  Chris- 
tian principles  "  means  far  more  than  not  appar- 
ently to  trample  the  eighth  commandment.  The 
Son  of  Man  will  have  His  way.  It  is  Puritan 
not  to  doubt  that,  and  to  work  for  it.  The  Rock 
of  the  Ages  is  the  only  bedrock  of  a  just  human 


202        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

society.  "  Whosoever  shall  fall  upon  it  shall  be 
broken ;  but  upon  whomsoever  it  shall  fall  it 
will  grind  him  to  powder!  " 

Is  this  "  all  a  sermon  ?  "     Make  it  a  song ! 

Good  men  in  a  good  land,  and  peace  to  them 
all  ;  this  is  the  doctrine  and  the  zeal  of  the  Mod- 
ern Puritan,  entering  into  the  labors  of  his 
fathers. 

Man  !  God  !  Conscience !  And  the  law — the 
law  of  Christ ! 


America  a  World  Power. 

Archbishop  John  Ireland. 

What  I  may  speak  of  on  this  occasion  is 
results  of  the  war  manifest  even  at  this  hour  to 
America  and  to  the  world,  transcending  and  in- 
dependent of  all  treaties  of  peace,  possessing  for 
America  and  for  the  world  a  meaning  far 
mightier  than  accumulation  of  material  wealth,  or 
commercial  concessions,  or  territorial  extension. 

To  do  great  things,  to  meet  fitly  great  respon- 
sibilities, a  nation,  like  a  person,  must  be 
conscious  of  its  dignity  and  its  power.  The 
consciousness  of  what  she  is  and  what  she  may 
be  has  come  to  America.  She  knows  that  she  is 
a  great  nation.  The  elements  of  greatness  were 
not  imparted  to  her  by  the  war,  but  they  were  re- 
vealed to  her  by  the  war,  and  their  vitality  and 


AMERICA   A    WORLD  POWER.  203 

significance  were  increased  through  the  war. 
To  take  its  proper  place  among  the  other  nations 
of  the  earth  a  nation  must  be  known,  as  she  is, 
to  those  nations.  The  world,  to-day  as  never 
before,  knows  and  confesses  the  greatness  and 
the  power  of  America.  The  world  to-day  ad- 
mires and  respects  America.  The  young  giant 
of  the  West,  heretofore  neglected  and  almost 
despised  in  his  remoteness  and  isolation,  is  now 
moving  as  becomes  his  stature.  The  world  sees 
what  he  is  and  pictures  what  he  will  be.  All 
this  does  not.  happen  by  chance  or  accident.  An 
all-ruling  Providence  directs  the  movements  of 
humanity.  What  we  witness  is  a  momentous 
dispensation  from  the  Master  of  Men. 

To-day  we  proclaim  a  new  order  of  things. 
America  is  too  great  to  be  isolated  from  the 
world  around  her  and  beyond  her.  She  is  a 
world-power,  to  whom  no  world-interest  is  alien, 
whose  voice  reaches  afar,  whose  spirit  travels 
across  seas  and  mountain  ranges  to  most  distant 
continents  and  islands ;  and  with  America  goes 
far  and  wide  what  America  in  her  grandest  ideal 
represents — democracy  and  liberty,  a  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people.  This  is  Americanism,  more  than  Ameri- 
can territory,  or  American  shipping,  or  American 
soldiery.  Where  this  grandest  ideal  of  Ameri- 
can life  is  not  held  supreme,  America  has  not 
reached;  where  this  ideal  is  supreme,    America 


204       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

reigns.  The  vital  significance  of  America's 
triumphs  is  not  understood  unless  by  those 
triumphs  is  understood  the  triumph  of  democ- 
racy and  of  liberty. 

That  at  times  wonderful  things  come  through 
war  we  must  admit,  but  that  they  come  through 
war,  and  not  through  methods  of  peaceful  justice, 
we  must  ever  regret.  When  they  do  come 
through  war  their  beauty  and  grandeur  are 
dimmed  by  the  memory  of  the  sufferings  and 
carnage  which  were  their  price.  We  say  in 
defence  of  war  that  its  purpose  is  justice,  but  is 
it  worthy  of  Christian  civilization  that  there  is 
no  other  way  to  justice  than  war,  that  nations 
are  forced  to  stoop  to  the  methods  of  the  animal 
and  the  savage  ?  Time  was  when  individuals 
gave  battle  to  one  another  in  the  name  of  jus- 
tice ;  it  was  the  time  of  social  barbarism.  Tri- 
bunals have  since  taken  to  themselves  the 
administration  of  justice,  and  how  much  better  it 
is  for  the  happiness  and  progress  of  mankind  ! 

It  is  force  or  chance  that  decides  the  issue  of 
the  battle.  Justice  herself  is  not  heard.  The 
decision  of  justice  is  what  it  was  before  the 
battle,  the  judgment  of  one  party.  Must  we  not 
hope  that,  with  the  widening  influence  of  reason 
and  of  religion  among  men,  the  day  is  approach- 
ing when  justice  shall  be  enthroned  upon  a  great 
international  tribunal,  before  which  nations  shall 
bow,  demanding  from  it  judgment  and  peace? 


AMERICA  A   WORLD  POWER,  20$ 

It  was  America's  great  soldier  who  said, 
**  Though  I  have  been  trained  as  a  soldier  and 
have  participated  in  many  battles,  there  never 
was  a  time  when,  in  my  opinion,  some  way  could 
not  have  been  found  of  preventing  the  drawing 
of  the  sword.  I  look  forward  to  an  epoch  when 
a  court,  recognized  by  all  nations,  will  settle  in- 
ternational differences,  instead  of  keeping  large 
standing  armies  as  they  do  in  Europe."  Shall 
we  not  allow  the  words  of  General  Grant  to  go 
forth  as  the  message  of  America  ? 

It  was  Wellington  who  said,  "Take  my  word 
for  it,  if  you  had  seen  but  one  day  of  war  you 
would  pray  to  Almighty  God  that  you  might 
never  see  such  a  thing  again."  It  was  Napoleon 
who  said,  **  The  sight  of  a  battle-field  after  the 
fight  is  enough  to  inspire  princes  with  a  love  of 
peace  and  a  horror  of  war."  War,  be  thou  gone 
from  my  soul's  sight !  I  thank  the  good  God 
that  thy  ghastly  spectre  stands  no  longer  upon 
the  thresholds  of  the  homes  of  my  fellow-coun- 
trymen in  America  or  of  my  fellow-men  in  distant 
Andalusia.  I  ask  heaven  :  When  shall  humanity 
rise  to  such  heights  of  reason  and  of  religion 
that  war  shall  be  impossible,  and  stories  of 
battle-fields  but  the  saddening  echoes  of  primi- 
tive ages  of  the  race  ? 

America,  the  eyes  of  the  world  are  upon  thee. 
Thou  livest  for  the  world.  The  new  era  is  shed- 
ding its  light  upon  thee,  and  through  thee  upon 


2o6      BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

the  world.  Thy  greatness  and  thy  power  daze 
me ;  thy  responsibilities  to  God  and  to  humanity 
daze  me — I  would  say  affright  me.  America, 
thou  failing,  democracy  and  liberty  fail  through- 
out the  world.  And  now,  America,  the  country 
of  our  pride,  of  our  love,  of  our  hope,  we  remit 
thee  for  to-day  and  for  to-morrow  into  the  hands 
of  the  Almighty  God  under  whose  protecting 
aegis  thou  canst  not  fail,  whose  commandments 
are  the  supreme  rule  of  truth  and  of  righteous- 
ness. 


Competition. 

Jacob  Gould  Schurman,  D.  Sc,  LL.  D. 
President  of  Cornell  University. 

There  is  a  growing  number  of  respectable 
persons  with  benevolent  impulses,  who  see  in  the 
individualistic  structure  of  modern  society  and  in 
that  competition  which  is  its  correlate,  the  root 
of  all  evil,  the  terrible  poison  of  that  righteous- 
ness which  alone  exalteth  a  nation. 

This  is  a  very  striking  and  suggestive  phenome- 
non. Some  of  the  best  people  in  the  world 
agreeing  with  the  worst  in  repudiating  a  principle 
to  which  more  than  to  any  other  we  owe  our 
modern  civilization  !  If  Darwinism  be  true,  the 
very  existence  of  our  species  is  due  to  competi- 


COMPETITION.  207 

tion.  In  the  struggle  for  life,  man  emerged  and 
he  survived  because  he  was  the  fittest  to  survive, 
but  competition  has  ever  since  kept  human  life 
from  fouling  by  stagnation.  Through  the  rivalry 
of  nations,  the  moral  government  of  the  world  is 
effected  ;  the  brave,  the  active,  the  intelligent, 
the  virtuous  nations  are  the  scourge  of  God  to 
sweep  away  the  lazy,  the  vicious  and  the  ignorant 
nations. 

Arts,  literature,  science,  philosophy,  politics, 
inventions,  necessities,  refinements  ;  all  are  the' 
products  of  minds  stirred  and  quickened  by  the  im- 
pulse of  rivalry.  [The  Homeric  epic  is  our  oldest 
poetry,  but  it  is  a  collection  of  songs  which  were 
chanted  by  troubadors  in  contest.  The  Greek 
drama  is  the  model  of  the  world,  and  save  for 
Shakespeare  it  has  never  been  equaled.  But  the 
Greek  dramatists  wrote  their  plays  for  prizes 
which  were  adjudged  by  popular  vote.  The 
Greeks  are  our  ideal  of  progress,  liberal  culture 
and  refinement  ;  and  I  know  no  foreign  nation 
whose  minds  were  so  keenly  sensitive  to  motives  of 
rivalry.'  In  the  modern  world,  America  presents 
the  most  conspicuous  field  for  the  illustration  of 
competition.  Columbus  goes  ahead  of  all  the 
others  in  discovering  it.  The  English  outdid  the 
French  in  gaining  possession  of  it,  and  the  Ameri- 
cans finally  conquered  independence  from  the 
English.  And  what  prolific  and  multifarious 
competition  has  since  obtained  in  population,  in 


208        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

politics,  in  industry,  in  letters,  and  in  all  the  in- 
strumentalities of  trade,  commerce  and  transpor- 
tation !  Without  competition  the  new  world 
would  be  no  America,  for,  as  Emerson  says, 
"  America  is  only  another  name  for  opportunity." 
Here  there  is  opportunity  for  subsistence,  com- 
fort, wealth,  education,  high  position,  character, 
attainment,  and  in  a  word,  manhood,  opportunity 
open  to  every  child  of  our  people. 

All  reform  is  gradual,  piece  by  piece.  We  can- 
not risk  the  experiment  of  turning  society  upside 
down  and  standing  it  on  its  head  to  see  how  it 
looks.  Of  course,  there  are  inequalities  in  the 
world  ;  there  always  have  been  ;  there  always  will 
be  ;  but  there  are  fewer  to-day  than  ever  before  in 
the  history  of  society,  and  fewer  here  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  globe. '  I  do  not  say  this  to  lay 
a  flattering  unction  to  your  souls.  I  say  it  for 
your  encouragement,  for  there  is  much  still  to  do. 
Let  us  plod  along  on  the  old  path,  aiding  by  a 
stroke  here  and  a  push  there  to  bring  in  the  reign 
of  liberty,  equality  and  fraternity.  Let  us  not  be 
led  astray  by  will-o'-the-wisps,  by  social  panaceas 
of  any  sort.  Let  us  note  clearly  what  can  be 
done,  and  what  under  these  terrestrial  conditions, 
with  such  a  human  nature  as  we  are  endowed 
with,  is  altogether  impossible.  Man  is  what  he 
is.  But  he  is  improvable.  Self-love  and  sociabil- 
ity are  the  dominant  impulses  of  his  nature. 
Competition  is  good,  not    evil.     Instead  of  sup- 


THE  GENERAL  WELFARE.  2C9 

pressing  it  I  demand  that  men  shall  compete  with 
one  another  in  deeds  of  kindness  and  beneficence 
as  they  now  do  in  transactions  that  lead  to  gain, 
or  profit,  or  fame.  The  need  of  the  world  is  more 
competition,  not  less ;  competition  in  self-sacri- 
ficing generosity  as  well  as  in  self-asserting  ac- 
quisitiveness. Why  not  rivalry  in  living  for 
others  as  well  as  in  living  for  ourselves  ?  Let 
selfishness  prevail,  let  men  live  simply  to  acquire, 
and  no  socialist  is  needed  to  pronounce  the  doom 
of  human  society.  But  the  cure  is  not  govern- 
mental socialism  but  the  fresh  individualism 
transfused  and  glorified  by  the  social  spirit,  the 
spirit  of  kindness,  of  helpfulness,  and  of  merciful 
justice.  The  salvation  of  the  race  lies  not  in 
constrained  virture,  but  in  free  individual  effort, 
and  the  unbought  peace  of  brotherly  love. 


The  General  Welfare. 

Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid. 

We  are  in  the  Philippines,  as  we  are  in  the 
West  Indies  because  duty  sent  us ;  and  we  shall 
remain  because  we  have  no  right  to  run  away 
from  our  duty,  even  if  it  does  involve  far  more 
trouble  than  we  foresaw  when  we  plunged  into 
the  war  that  entailed  it.  The  call  to  duty,  when 
once  plainly  understood,  is  a  call  Americans 
never  fail  to  answer ;  while  to  calls  of  interest 


2 lO       BEST  AMERICAN  OKA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

they  have  often  shown  themselves  incredulous  or 
contemptuous. 

The  Constitution  we  revere  was  ordained  "  to 
promote  the  general  welfare,"  and  he  is  untrue 
to  its  purpose  who  squanders  opportunities. 
Never  beiore  have  they  been  showered  upon  us 
in  such  bewildering  profusion.  Are  the  Ameri- 
can people  to  rise  to  the  occasion  ;  are  they  to 
be  as  great  as  their  country  ?  Or  shall  the  his- 
torian record  that  at  this  unexampled  crisis  they 
were  controlled  by  timid  ideas  and  short-sighted 
views,  and  so  proved  unequal  to  the  duty  and 
the  opportunity  which  unforeseen  circumstances 
brought  to  their  doors?  The  two  richest  archi- 
pelagoes in  the  world  are  practically  at  our  dis- 
posal. The  greatest  ocean  on  the  globe  has 
been  put  in  our  hands,  the  ocean  that  is  to  bear 
the  commerce  of  the  twentieth  century.  In  the 
face  of  this  prospect  shall  we  prefer,  with  the 
teeming  population  that  century  is  to  bring  to 
us,  to  remain  a  **  hibernating  nation,  living  off  its 
own  fat — a  hermit  nation  ?  " 

Are  we  to  be  discouraged  by  the  cry  that  the 
new  possessions  are  worthless  ?  Not  while  we 
remember  how  often  and  under  what  circum- 
stances we  have  heard  that  cry  before.  Half  the 
public  men  of  the  period  denounced  Louisiana 
as  worthless.  Eminent  statesmen  made  merry  in 
Congress  over  the  idea  that  Oregon  or  Washing- 
ton could  be  of  any  use.     Daniel  Webster,  in  the 


THE  GENERAL  WELFARE,  211 

most  solemn  and  authoritative  tones  Massachu- 
setts has  ever  employed,  assured  his  fellow-Sena- 
tors that  in  his  judgment  California  was  not 
worth  a  dollar.  Nobody  doubts  the  advantage 
our  dealers  have  derived  in  the  promotion  of  trade, 
from  controlling  political  relations  and  frequent 
intercourse.  There  are  those  who  deny  that 
"  trade  follows  the  flag,"  but  even  they  admit 
that  it  leaves,  if  the  flag  does.  And  independent 
of  these  advantages,  and  reckoning  by  mere  dis- 
tance, we  still  have  the  better  of  any  European 
rivals  in  the  Philippines.  Now,  assume  that  the 
Filipino  would  have  far  fewer  wants  than  the 
Kanaka  or  his  coolie  laborer,  and  would  do  far 
less  work  for  the  means  to  gratify  them.  Admit, 
too,  that,  with  ''the  open  door,"  our  political 
relations  and  frequent  intercourse  could  have 
barely  a  fifth  or  a  sixth  of  the  effect  there  they 
have  had  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Roughly  cast 
up  even  that  result,  and  say  whether  it  is  a 
value  which  the  United  States  should  throw 
away  as  not  worth  considering! 

And  the  greatest  remains  behind.  For  the 
trade  in  the  Philippines  will  be  but  a  drop  in 
bucket  compared  to  that  of  China,  for  which 
they  give  us  an  unapproachable  foothold.  But 
let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the  confidence  of 
Orientals  goes  only  to  those  whom  they  recog- 
nize as  strong  enough  and  determined  enough 
always  to  hold  their  own  and  protect  their  rights! 


2 1 2        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

The  worst  possible  introduction  for  the  Asiatic 
trade  would  be  an  irresolute  abandonment  of 
our  foothold  because  it  was  too  much  trouble  to 
keep,  or  because  some  Malay  and  half-breed  in- 
surgents said  they  wanted  us  away. 

Have  you  considered  for  whom  we  hold  these 
advantages  in  trust  ?  They  belong  not  merely 
to  the  seventy-five  millions  now  within  our  bor- 
ders, but  to  all  who  are  to  extend  the  fortunes 
and  preserve  the  virtues  of  the  Republic  in  the 
coming  century.  Their  number  cannot  increase 
in  the  startling  ratio  this  century  has  shown — if 
they  did  the  population  of  the  United  States  a 
hundred  years  hence  would  be  over  twelve  hun- 
dred millions.  That  ratio  is  impossible,  but 
nobody  gives  reasons  why  we  should  not  increase 
half  as  fast.  Suppose  we  do  actually  increase 
only  one-fourth  as  fast  in  the  twentieth  century  as 
in  the  nineteenth.  To  what  height  would  not  the 
three  hundred  millions  of  Americans,  whom  even 
that  ratio  foretells,  bear  up  the  seething  indus- 
trial activities  of  the  Continent !  To  what  cor 
ner  of  the  world  they  would  not  need  to  carry 
their  commerce  ?  What  demands  on  tropical 
productions  would  they  not  make?  What  out- 
lets for  their  adventurous  youth  would  they  not 
require  ? 

With  such  a  prospect  before  us,  who  thinks 
that  we  should  shrink  from  an  enlargement  of 
our  national  sphere   because  of   the   limitations 


THE  GENERAL   WELFARE.  213 

that  bound,  or  the  dangers  that  threatened,  be- 
fore railroads,  before  ocean  steamers,  before  tele- 
graphs and  ocean  cables,  before  the  enormous 
development  of  our  manufactures,  and  the  train- 
ing of  executive  and  organizing  faculties  in  our 
people  on  a  constantly  increasing  scale  for  gene- 
rations. Does  the  prospect  alarm  ?  Is  it  said 
that  our  nation  is  already  too  great ;  that  all  its 
magnificent  growth  only  adds  to  the  conflicting 
interests  that  must  eventually  tear  it  asunder? 
What  cement,  then,  like  that  of  a  great  common 
interest  beyond  our  borders,  that  touches  not 
merely  the  conscience  but  the  pocket  and  the 
pride  of  all  alike,  and  marshals  us  in  the  face  of 
the  world,  standing  for  our  own  ? 

What,  then,  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole 
matter?  Hold  fast!  Stand  firm  in  the  place 
where  Providence  has  put  you,  and  do  the  duty  a 
just  responsibility  for  your  own  past  acts  imposes. 
Support  the  army  you  sent  there.  Stop  wasting 
valuable  strength  by  showing  how  things  might 
be  different  if  something  different  had  been  done 
a  year  and  a  half  ago.  Use  the  educated  thought 
of  the  country  for  shaping  best  its  course  now, 
instead  of  chiefly  finding  fault  with  its  history. 
Bring  the  best  hope  of  the  future,  the  colleges 
and  the  generation  they  are  training,  to  exert 
the  greatest  influence  and  accomplish  the  most 
good  by  working  intelligently  in  line  with  the 
patriotic  aspirations  and  the  inevitable  tendencies 


2 14       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

of  the  American  people,  rather  than  against 
them.  Unite  the  efforts  of  all  men  of  good-will  to 
make  the  appointment  of  any  person  to  these  new 
and  strange  duties  beyond  seas  impossible  save  for 
proved  fitness,  and  his  removal  impossible  save 
for  cause.  Rally  the  colleges  and  the  churches, 
and  all  they  influence,  the  brain  and  the  con- 
science of  the  country,  in  a  combined  and  irre- 
sistible demand  for  a  genuine  trained  and  pure 
civil  service  in  our  new  possessions,  that  shall 
put  to  shame  our  detractors,  and  show  to  the 
world  the  Americans  of  this  generation  equal 
still  to  the  work  of  civilization  and  colonization, 
and  leading  the  development  of  the  coming  cen- 
tury as  bravely  as  their  fathers  led  it  in  the  last. 


National  Unity  and  the  State  University. 

Wm.  L.  Prather,  LL.  D. 
President  of  the  University  of  Texas. 

The  idea  of  national  unity  is  as  yet  young. 
We  have  been  geographically  a  nation,  territori- 
ally a  nation,  governmentally  a  nation,  ethically 
a  nation — for  a  century.  But  the  development 
of  a  true  national  unity  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the 
term  is  one  of  the  great  problems  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  future — a  problem  whose  significance 
and  importance  we  must  be  fully  awake  to. 

Think  of  the  intellectual  triumphs  which  await 


NATIONAL  UNITY.  21$ 

a  nation  of  eighty  million  souls,  enjoying  oppor- 
tunities of  culture  that  are  accessible  to  all,  from 
the  meanest  to  the  highest,  untrammeled  by  arti- 
ficial social  distinctions,  possessing  a  quickness 
of  intellect  and  adaptability  that  goes  hand  in 
hand  with  solid  and  sturdy  moral  character,  to 
form  the  best  foundation  for  the  best  kind  of 
intellectual  culture ;  and  possessing  those  ele- 
ments and  characteristics  in  a  measure  and 
degree  unequaled  among  the  nations  of  the 
world.  This  is  our  opportunity,  and  if  we  fail  to 
realize  it,  we  are  failing  of  a  full  conception  of 
our  national  duty. 

One  of  the  happiest  results  which  the  inter- 
communication of  education  -has  wrought  is  the 
larger  ability  to  discuss  philosophically,  wisely, 
and  with  less  passion  and  prejudice,  the  great 
questions  affecting  us  as  a  nation  and  parts  of 
the  same  nation.  We  should  never  forget  that 
we  are  brothers,  members  of  the  same  house- 
hold ;  that  this  nation  is  a  family  of  states ;  and 
that  whatever  affects  favorably  or  unfavorably 
the  welfare  of  one,  affects  the  whole  nation.  We 
must  rise  to  a  true  conception  of  this  idea  if  we 
would  in  the  future  avoid  sectionalism,  and  secure 
the  welfare  of  the  whole  people  rather  than  the 
welfare  of  a  particular  section.  Truth  and  frank- 
ness should  characterize  our  dealings  with  each 
other  as  individuals,  as  states,  and  as  a  whole 
people.     One   of   the   most    potent    forces    now 


2 1 6       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

contributing    to    the    development    of    such    a 
national  sympathy  is  the  State  University. 

If  it  be  true  that  *'  the  arrival  of  democracy  is 
the  fact  of  our  time,  which  overshadows  all 
other  facts,"  the  very  incarnation  of  true  democ- 
racy is  found  in  the  modern  State  University. 
A  university  for  the  people  without  distinctions 
of  rank  is  the  regenerating  thought  of  the  new 
world.  In  the  glorious  progress  of  American 
manhood  and  womanhood,  universities  are  the 
torchbearers  of  American  civilization.  ,  It  is  a 
serious  error  on  the  part  of  our  politicians  to 
charge  that  the  great  teachers  and  thinkers  of 
our  universities  are  mere  theorists.  No  wiser 
step  has  been  taken  by  our  rulers  than  when 
they  utilized  in  the  affairs  of  government  the 
training,  the  learning,  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
scholars  of  this  nation./  They  brought  to  their 
aid  the  lessons  of  all  history,  and  bravely  applied 
them  to  the  solution  of  new  and  perplexing  prob- 
lems, thereby  enriching  the  achievements  of 
American  statesmanship.  To  the%e  great  centers 
of  learning,  planted  in  every  state  of  this  rapidly 
expanding  union,  as  well  as  to  our  common 
sch'ools,  we  must  look  in  the  future  for  that  stal- 
wart and  vitalizing  American  sentiment  which 
shall  not  only  withstand,  but  shall  quickly  trans- 
form and  assimilate,  the  u-ninstructed  foreign 
population  now  flocking  to  our  shores.  Our 
safety  as  a  people  demands  a  wise  and  vigorous 


NATIONAL  UNITY.  21/ 

effort  to  educate  the  masses  to  an  intelligent 
appreciation  of  the  blessings  which  we  as  free- 
men enjoy.  ^  The  educational  forces  of  this 
country  are  doing  a  great  work  towards  breaking 
down  sectionalism,  allaying  party  strife  and  pro- 
moting the  peace,  prosperity  and  unity  of  this 
nationy 

It  is  my  clear  conviction  that  it  would  be  wise 
for  the  American  people  to  cease  establishing 
new  colleges  and  universities,  and  to  concentrate 
their  efforts  in  strenghtening  those  already 
founded,  thereby  increasing  their  power  and 
efBciency.  The  State  University  at  the  head  of 
the  state  system  of  education  is  an  evolution  of 
the  best  western  thought,  and  the  noblest  civic 
achievement  of  the  commonwealth.  There  should 
be  the  closest  and  most  harmonious  relation 
between  the  university  and  all  the  educational 
agencies  of  the  State.  As  the  university  grows, 
its  magnetic  life  should  pervade  every  district 
school,  and  be  an  inspiration  and  blessing  to  all 
good  learning.  The  system  of  elementary  and 
secondary  education  should  culminate  in  the 
university. 

If  the  newer  universities,  thus  developed  from 
the  expanding  intellectual  life  of  our  people, 
are  tied  in  bonds  of  closest  sympathy  and  frater- 
nal co-operation  to  the  older  universities  already 
established,  and  so  unite  with  them  to  maintain 
the  highest  ideals  of  American  life  and  American 


2 1 8       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

thought,  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  Ameri- 
can culture  shall  be  a  national  culture,  exerting 
on  the  nations  of  the  earth  an  influence,  as  wide 
and  potent  as  was  that  of  Greece  and  Rome,  in 
uplifting  and  enlightening  the  world. 


Our  Relations  with  the  World. 

Hon.  Franklin  MacVeagh. 

There  are  three  forces  driving  us  to  expanded 
relations  with  the  world,  and  we  have  arrived  at 
that  particular  period  when  these  forces  are  be- 
coming especially  active  and  dominant.  The 
first  of  them  is  our  trade.  It  is  inevitable  that, 
more  and  more,  from  this  day  forth,  our  nation 
will  set  out  to  become  the  greatest  trading  people 
ever  known  in  the  world. 

No  nation  exists  with  eqyal  facilities  or  equal 
necessities  for  an  unprecedented  commerce.  We 
not  only  have  in  soil  and  minerals  an  easy  and 
cheap  abundance,  heretofore  unknown  in  a  like 
combination  ;  not  only  has  nature  lavishly 
equipped  us,  but  we  have  a  people  unprecedented 
in  manufacturing  and  commercial  gifts.  We  have 
capital  that  is  ample  and  growing,  and  workmen 
of  practically  a  new  race.  We  have  a  population 
of  vast  and  constantly  growing  proportions,  with 


OUR   RELATIONS    WITH   THE    WORLD.        219 

scarcely  a  drone  in  the  great  hive.  Such  are  the 
elements  of  our  facilities  for  foreign  trade. 

There  will  be  no  seas  without  American  ships, 
and  no  ports  without  American  goods  carried 
there  under  our  own  flag.  For,  in  the  growing 
cheapness  and  excellence  of  our  manufactures, 
nothing  will  be  more  cheaply  and  excellently 
built  than  ships.  And  with  an  expanding  com- 
merce and  a  broadening  merchant  marine  what 
are  more  inevitable  than  universal  relations  be- 
tween our  nation  and  the  whole  of  mankind? 

Another  of  the  forces  which  are  carrying  us  on 
to  extended  relations  with  the  world  is  the  force 
of  our  institutions  and  political  ideas.  As  I  said 
at  the  beginning,  there  is  a  growing  issue  between 
our  institutions  and  ideas  and  those  opposing 
institutions  and  ideas  which  they  are  steadily 
supplanting  throughout  the  world.  America 
especially  stands  for  these  institutions  and  ideas. 
We  could  not  see  them  defeatedo  We  must  de- 
fend them.  They  have  served  well  our  prosper- 
ity, our  happiness,  and  our  manhood.  Hence- 
forth we  shall  serve  well  their  domination  of  the 
world. 

Free  government,  free  commerce,  and  free  men 
— those  first  essentials  of  democracy — are  the 
greatest  good,  the  greatest  blessings  the  political 
world  can  know  ;  and  there  is  in  our  democratic 
people  that  inherent  and  abiding  fidelity  to  demo- 
cratic   institutions    which    has    kept    us    faithful 


220       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

within  our  own  borders,  and  is  forcing  us,  as  in 
this  war  with  Spain,  to  be  faithful  on  the  larger 
stage  of  the  world.  Our  cry  for  free  institutions 
in  Cuba  was  the  cry  of  democracy  speaking 
through  the  voice  of  our  nation. 

Democracy  does  not  demand  war,  but  it  does 
demand  justice.  It  demands  freedom.  It  de- 
mands that  the  modern  man  who  wants  freedom 
shall  have  freedom.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  was 
democracy's  first  great  challenge.  It  was  our 
service.  And  it  is  wonderful  that  any  nation 
should  have  had  a  spirit  equal  to  that  great  self- 
dedication.  Any  futher  step  is  but  another  stage 
of  democratic  evolution. 

Who  can  doubt  at  this  day  that  democracy  is 
a  great  militant  force,  or  that  it  will  tend  to  drive 
an  influential  and  powerful  nation  like  ours  into 
complete  relations  with  the  world  ?  Democracy 
knows,  better  than  any  other  of  humanity's  great 
forces,  that  war  is  not  the  best  agent  of  ideas, 
and  the  activities  of  democracy,  or  of  democratic 
governments,  do  not  mean  war.  Democracy  can 
be  militant  without  entanglements  or  conflicts, 
but  it  cannot  be  militant  and  isolated  at  the  same 
time. 

The  third  of  the  forces  driving  our  nation  on 
to  closer  relations  with  the  world  is  the  sense  of 
responsibility  inherent  in  a  great,  free  nation  and 
the  consequent  impracticability  of  associating 
pure    isolation     with    national     greatness     and 


OUR   RELATIONS   WITH  THE    WORLD.       221 

grandeur.  No  truly  great  nation  ever  did  or 
ever  will  for  a  very  long  time  remain  isolated  or 
feed  its  soul  on  indifference  to  what  goes  on  out- 
side itself.  A  truly  great  nation  must  become  a 
part  of  the  great  world  and  take  its  part  of  the 
world's  burdens ;  take  its  share  of  responsibility 
for  the  world's  civilization. 

Thoughts  of  human  progress  are  the  necessary 
food  of  noble  minds.  Dreams  of  universal  amelio- 
rations are  the  nourishment  of  all  great  spirits. 
The  isolation  of  greatness  is  inconceivable. 
Greatness  is  responsible ;  greatness  is  interested 
in  all  related  great  things  ;  greatness  has  relation- 
ships, responsibilities,  duties,  which  are  on  the 
scale  of  its  own  proportions.  And  a  really  great 
nation  must  feel  responsibilities  to  the  great 
movement  of  mankind,  as  represented  in  the  ac- 
tivities of  all  the  world  together.  You  might  as 
well  expect  a  great  man  to  limit  his  interests  to 
the  life  of  his  immediate  family  as  to  expect  a 
great  nation  to  live  entirely  within  itself.  It  is 
against  nature,  against  character,  against  all 
human  impulse.  Therefore  this  growing  sense 
of  necessary  touch  on  the  part  of  our  great  nation 
with  the  civilization  and  interests  of  mankind. 


222        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

The  Problem  of  The  Philippines. 

Hon.  Henry  M.  Teller. 
Used  by  permission. 

It  is  certain  to  me  that  the  interest  of  the 
United  States  does  not  demand  our  presence  in 
the  Philippines  on  our  present  footing. 

After  nearly  three  years  of  conflict,  after  years 
of  actual  warfare,  with  a  large  army  in  the  Philip- 
pines— what  is  the  situation?  How  many  we 
have  left  there,  and  how  many  have  returned  to 
go  to  early  graves,  how  much  evil  we  have 
inflicted  upon  our  people  by  that  course,  indepen- 
dent of  the  cost  in  dollars  and  cents,  God  alone 
knows.  No  human  being  can  tell  us  to-day  what 
will  be  the  influence  upon  a  great  army  there 
amidst  all  the  temptations  and  vices  of  a  tropical 
climate  and  among  a  tropical  people. 

It  remains  yet  to  be  determined  by  the  future 
how  much  we  are  to  be  damaged,  not  alone  in 
our  purse,  but  how  much  we  are  to  be  cursed  in 
our  physical  and  mental  and  moral  manhood. 

I  can  measure  the  dollars ;  I  can  count  what  it 
costs  in  that  respect ;  I  can  consider  what  it  takes 
out  of  the  pockets  of  the  American  people ;  and 
with  our  great  wealth,  great  as  the  cost  is,  I  will 
not  put  it  for  a  minute  by  the  degradation  that 
has  come  to  American  manhood  in  the  soldiers 
that  we  have  sent  to  those  islands.  I  will  not 
attempt  to  measure.it  by  the  side  of  the  degrada- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES.         223 

tion  that  has  come  to  the  whole  American  people 
by  our  contact  there,  by  lessening  their  respect 
for  those  great,  eternal  truths  that  no  Christian 
nation  can  for  a  moment  forget  or  overlook. 
The  worse  evil  that  is  befalling  us  is  not  the 
money  we  are  paying  out.  That  we  can  pay ; 
that  we  can  forget,  great  as  it  is  and  burdensome 
as  it  is  ;  but  the  other  will  remain  with  us  always, 
a  debt  never  to  be  paid.  There  will  be  no 
redeemer  for  that. 

Is  there  one  here  who  will  say  that  he  has  no 
sympathy  with  the  struggling  Filipinos?  Can 
anyone  fail  to  sympathize  with  them  when  he 
sees  death  and  destruction  measured  out  to  them 
and  knows,  as  he  must  know,  that  those  men 
believe  at  least  that  they  are  fighting  for  home 
and  fireside,  doing  that  which  the  whole  world 
has  declared  to  be  a  virtue  of  superior  character. 

The  Senator  from  Massachusetts  tells  us  that 
those  people  must  submit.  The  Senator  from 
Ohio  in  impassioned  terms  declared  to  us  that 
the  American  Army  would  stay  there  until  every 
Filipino  acknowledged  its  supremacy.  He  might 
have  added,  I  suppose,  until  he  either  acknow- 
ledged its  supremacy  or  went  to  his  grave. 

Why  are  those  men  in  arms  against  the  United 
States?  I  could  understand  why  Aguinaldo,  an 
ambitious  Asiatic,  might  take  up  arms  against  us, 
for  he  wanted  power  and  he  wanted  the  advan- 
tage that  he  could  secure  as  the  leader   of  the 


224        BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

people.  But  what  of  the  rank  and  file  ?  What 
do  the  common  Filipinos  mean  when  they  stand 
in  battle  before  us  and  when  they  are  ready  to 
go  to  their  deaths  in  the  strife?  Do  they  not 
mean  that  they  are  standing  in  defense  of  what 
they  believe  to  be  right  ? 

As  an  American  I  can  not  feel  happy  over  the 
defeat  of,  and  I  can  not  myself  wish  that  there 
should  come  disaster  to,  American  arms.  But  I 
can  not  but  respect  the  people  who  believe  that 
we  are  attempting  to  subject  them  and  put  upon 
them  a  government  and  a  system  of  civilization 
that  they  dislike.  I  can  not  help  feeling  for  them, 
and  I  believe  every  man  here  feels  for  them.  He 
may  say  they  are  misguided,  that  they  are  igno- 
rant ;  but  after  all  the  man  who,  when  he  thinks 
his  home  is  assailed,  stands  in  front  of  it  with 
his  gun  is  a  model  of  excellency  the  world  over. 

The  American  people  came  to  their  existence 
as  a  nation  through  blood.  We  had  a  long  and 
bloody  war — seven  years  of  contest  with  the 
then  ruling  power  of  the  world — but  it  was  not 
longer  than  the  war  in  the  Philippine  Islands 
will  be.  A  Senator  has  said  to  me  that  there  is 
no  counterpart  between  our  condition  and  that 
of  these  people.  That  is  right ;  there  is  not. 
We  were  Englishmen.  We  had  come  from  Eng- 
land and  settled  here  under  English  charters  and 
English  law,  but  when  England  attempted  to 
put  upon  us  a  tax  that  we  believed  she  should 


GENIUS  AND  CHARACTER  OF  GRANT.         22 5 

not  we  went  to  war.  We  did  not  take  up  arms 
because  of  any  atrocities  committed  upon  us. 
We  did  not  go  to  war  because  we  were  suffering 
from  anything  that  Parliament  had  done.  We 
fought  for  a  principle.  As  Webster  said,  in  the 
Senate,  in  1834,  we  went  to  war  against  a  pream- 
ble. We  went  to  war  against  a  parliamentary 
declaration  that  England  had  a  right  to  govern 
us  and  provide  for  taxation  of  the  American  col- 
onies without  their  consent.  When  Parliament 
passed  a  resolution  declaring  that  the  right 
existed  to  enact  all  the  legislation  required  for 
the  colonies,  Mr.  Wilkes,  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  said,  referring  to  it,  "  It  is  the  com- 
pendium of  slavery,"  and  when  Lord  North  said, 
"  The  tax  is  trifling,"  Englishmen  in  both  Houses 
responded,  "  The  American  people  are  not  fight- 
ing because  of  the  size  of  the  tax."  They  were 
fighting  because  of  the  violation  of  the  principle 
that  taxation  and  representation  under  English 
law  must  go  together.  Oh,  no  ;  the  conditions 
are  not  the  same,  but  we  had  the  right  to  fight. 
If  we  were  justified  in  resisting,  so  is  the  Filipino. 


Genius  and  Character  of  Grant. 

Hon.  Clark  E.  Carr. 

Contributed  by  the  author.     Abridged. 

In  estimating  the  military  genius  of  General 
Grant,  we  must  remember  that  the  rebellion  was 


226        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

attempted  under  the  idea  and  the  firm  belief 
that,  while  the  government  might  win  battles, 
so  great  a  number  of  brave  people,  inhabiting  so 
vast  a  country,  could  never  be  conquered ;  that 
when  the  Union  armies  were  victorious,  the 
rebels  would  always  be  able  to  retreat,  and  re- 
cuperate, and  thus  indefinitely  prolong  the  strug- 
gle. This  was  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  greatest 
generals  of  Europe.  It  was  confirmed  in  a  great 
degree  by  the  early  experience  of  the  war.  We 
might  have  gone  on  gaining  victory  for  many 
years  and  still  the  object  for  which  the  war  was 
waged  by  the  Union  army  been  as  far  from  be- 
ing attained,  as  when  we  commenced.  When 
General  Grant  came  to  the  front  in  supreme 
command  the  policy  was  not  merely  to  gain  vic- 
tories but  to  conquer  armies. 

General  Grant  will  be  remembered  for  his  suc- 
cess in  fighting  and  winning  battles,  in  which  he 
personally  commanded.  He  was  always  ready  to 
give  battle,  and  it  may  be  said  that  with  him 
victory  became  a  habit.  So  regularly  and  con- 
stantly successful  did  he  become,  that  when  he 
was  engaged  in  battle  the  country  came  to  ex- 
pect and  rely  upon  victory. 

His  great  fame  as  a  military  chieftain  will  rest 
upon  the  mighty  and  successful  plans,  and  com- 
binations, by  which  and  through  which,  every 
battle  fought  by  every  Union  army,  moving  over 
a  vast  expanse  of  country,  extending  thousands 


GENIUS  AND  CHARACTER  OF  GRANT,         22/ 

of  miles,  was  made  to  contribute  to  the  grand 
result — plans  and  combinations  by  which  and 
through  which  officers  and  men,  far  away  from 
each  other,  fighting  at  Nashville,  at  Atlanta, 
around  Mobile,  and  marching  to  the  sea  were  as 
literally  heroes  of  the  final  overthrow  and  sur- 
render as  those  who  were  present  and  wit- 
nessed the  grand  consummation,  to  which  each, 
in  his  own  sphere,  had  contributed. 

Other  great  captains  may  have  won  as  brilliant 
victories  as  General  Grant,  but  none  have  made 
such  great  conquests  of  armies.  Others  may 
have  made  as  brilliant  marches,  and  have  suc- 
ceeded in  more  brilliant  assaults,  but  none  have 
been  so  frequently  and  uniformly  successful. 
There  is  a  disposition  to  compare  his  military 
career  with  those  of  Marlborough,  Napoleon, 
Wellington  and  the  great  Frederick.  It  is  enough 
for  us  to  remember  how  we  turned  to  him  when 
in  distress,  and  that  he  never  failed. 

''The  laurel  wreath  which  decks  the  soldier's 
brow  "  was  not  enough  to  satisfy  the  people  who 
delighted  to  honor  General  Grant.  They  must 
each  by  his  individual  expression  recognize  his 
great  services  to  his  country  by  making  him 
Chief  Ruler.  Modestly  he  accepted  the  great 
responsibility,  faithfully  he  performed  its  duties. 
Without  any  of  the  experiences  incident  to  politi- 
cal life  it  is  not  remarkable  that  he  made  mis- 
takes,   but    taken    all    in    all   it    may    well    be 


228      BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

claimed  that  scarcely  any  other  administrations 
were  more  wise  or  beneficent  in  their  results.  His 
was  the  statesmanship  of  common  sense.  He  is 
certainly  every  day  more  and  more  highly  appre- 
ciated. His  errors  may  be  traced  to  the  noblest 
element  in  his  character :  his  unbounded  gratitude 
and  devotion  to  those  who  had  befriended  him 
and  his  wife  and  children  in  their  struggles,  while 
in  poverty  and  want.  General  Grant's  love  of 
home,  and  friends,  and  kindred,  was  not  eradicated 
nor  dimmed  by  his  elevation  to  power.  It  may 
well  be  assumed  that  upon  this  element  of  his 
nature  was  builded  that  patriotism,  that  intense 
love  of  country,  which  prompted  him  to  such 
great  achievements. 

He  was  known  as  the  **  Silent  Man,  "  yet  there 
is  scarcely  another  American  statesman  who  has 
said  so  many  things  that  are  remembered.  His 
"  immediate  and  unconditional  surrender  ;  "  his 
"  I  propose  to  move  immediately  upon  your 
works  ;  "  his  '*  I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this 
line  if  it  takes  all  summer;"  his '' Let  us  have 
peace  ;  "  his  "  The  easiest  way  to  bring  about  the 
repeal  of  a  bad  law  is  to  enforce  it ;  "  his  "  The 
humble  soldier  who  carried  a  musket  is  entitled 
to  as  much  credit  for  the  results  of  the  war  as 
those  who  were  in  command  ; "  his  reply  to  the 
Lord  Mayor  of  London,  "  Although  a  soldier  by 
education  and  profession,  I  have  never  felt  any 
sort  of  fondness  for  war,  I  have  never  advocated 


GENIUS  AND  CHARACTER  OF  GRANT.         229 

it  except  as  a  means  of  peace ; "  his  '*  The  free 
school  is  the  promoter  of  that  intelligence 
which  is  to  preserve  us  a  free  nation  ;  **  his  in- 
junction that  "no  reduction  be  made  in  the 
wages  paid  to  working  men  and  mechanics  on 
account  of  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor; " 
his  declaration  that  "  If  I  had  fallen,  if  all  our 
generals  had  fallen,  there  were  ten  thousand  be- 
hind us  who  would  have  done  our  work  just  as 
well ; "  all  these  sentiments  and  many  more  are 
remembered  and  treasured  by  vast  numbers  of 
people. 

It  was  the  privilege  of  the  writer  to  become 
acquainted  with  General  Grant  under  peculiar 
circumstances.  We  had  gone  up  to  Pittsburg 
Landing  to  bring  home  Illinois  wounded  soldiers. 
Our  mission  brought  us  directly  to  his  head- 
quarters. He  received  us  kindly  but  we  saw  at 
once  that  a  great  cloud  was  hangmg  over  him. 
Within  a  few  steps  of  his  tent  were  the  head- 
quarters of  General  Halleck,  the  commander  of 
the  whole  military  department.  On  account  of 
the  clamor  against  General  Grant  for  his  action 
on  the  first  day  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  General 
Halleck  had  come  himself  to  oversee  and  direct 
the  movements  of  the  army.  Grant  was  prac- 
tically superceded.  There  was  great  dissatisfac- 
tion on  the  part  of  his  friends,  that  the  hero  of 
Fort  Henry,  of  Donelson  and  Shiloh,  should  be 
so  treated.     While  nominally  in  command  of  the 


230       BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

army  he  was  really  only  in  command  of  his  per- 
sonal staff.  Governor  Yates  invited  him  to  come 
on  board  of  our  steamer  and  dine  with  us.  He 
readily  accepted  the  invitation  stating  that  he 
had  "nothing  to  do."  He  was  with  us  most  of 
the  afternoon  and  until  after  night  fall.  I  never 
was  more  astonished  than  by  the  tone  of  his  con- 
versation. He  talked  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  ex- 
plained how  the  enemy  massed  his  forces  upon 
one  point,  declared  it  was  not  a  surprise,  ex- 
plained the  means  adopted  to  recover  lost 
ground,  spoke  of  General  Halleck's  moving  his 
headquarters  to  the  field,  gave  us  something  of 
that  ofificer's  military  history,  expressed  the 
greatest  admiration  for  him,  and  seemed  rather 
pleased  than  otherwise  that  he  had  come.  He 
told  us  of  how  he  was  advising  General  Halleck, 
and  expressed  the  greatest  anxiety  to  have  him 
succeed.  He  spoke  of  his  own  position,  and 
said  that  he  had  not  nor  should  he  complain ; 
that  he  was  in  for  the  war  and  should  stay  as 
long  as  any  other  man  stayed,  and  do  his  best 
while  it  lasted,  and  declared  that  if  it  was 
thought  he  could  do  more  and  be  more  effective 
in  that  position  he  would  carry  a  musket.  We 
expressed  our  indignation  at  the  treatment  he 
had  received,  but  he  answered  not  a  word.  We 
thought  and  afterwards  talked  of  the  complaints 
of  so  many  officers,  high  and  low,  and  contrasted 
them  with  him.     I  thought  of  the  relative  posi- 


so VEREIGNTY  FOLLO  WS  THE  FLA G,         23 1 

tion  of  the  two  Generals  at  Pittsburg  Landing, 
when,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  while  General  of  all 
the  Armies  of  the  United  States,  General  Grant 
received  me  at  Washington,  with  General  Hal- 
leck  seated  near  him,  who  was  Chief  of  Staff.  It 
has  seemed  to  me  that  General  Grant's  action 
during  those  days  while  in  the  valley  of  humilia- 
tion was  sublime.  I  have  seen  him  in  the  midst 
of  his  great  generals ;  I  have  seen  him  when 
surrounded  by  his  Cabinet ;  I  have  seen  him  in 
the  home  circle  at  Galena  and  Washington ;  I 
twice  saw  him,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  concourse 
of  people,  inaugurated  as  President  of  the  United 
States ;  I  saw  him  when  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  people  greeted  him  at  Chicago  upon  his 
return  to  his  native  land.  But  when  I  try  to  re- 
call his  face  and  features,  he  always  comes  back 
to  me  as  he  sat  there  on  that  summer,  evening 
at  Pittsburg  Landing,  serene  and  self-poised,  the 
conqueror  of  himself. 


Sovereignty  Follows  The  Flag. 

George  R.  Peck. 

The  Spanish  War  was  not  the  war  of  any  State, 
but  of  all  the  States ;  it  was  the  war  of  a  nation 
strong  in  its  high  sense  of  right,  and  strong 
because  it  held  in  its  keeping  the  cause  of  justice 


232       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

and  humanity.  American  sovereignty  follows  the 
American  flag.  If  it  leads  across  western  seas  to 
the  east,  or  floats  over  the  Oregon  washing  the 
foam  of  two  oceans  from  her  prow  as  she  speeds 
onward  to  the  fight,  the  national  spirit  sails  with 
it  to  the  uttermost.  To-day  the  New  Union 
faces  new  duties.  Wars  arc  never  exactly  what 
men  foresee.  The  dominion  of  the  RepubUc  has 
been  enormously  enlarged,  but  it  was  not  the 
lust  of  conquest  that  brought  it  about.  It  was 
the  logic  of  events  that  were  greater  than  men. 
We  may  trust  the  United  States,  and  we  may 
trust  the  deliberate  judgment  of  its  people. 
Thinking  of  all  that  is  past,  considering  the  pres- 
ent and  its  problems,  our  look  must  yet  be  for- 
ward, as  is  the  habit  of  brave  men  and  of  states- 
men who  are  fit  to  rule. 

Speaking  in  the  presence  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  whom  we  honor  for  what  he 
is  and  for  what  he  represents,  we  all  unite  in 
acknowledging  his  sincerity  of  purpose,  his  wis- 
dom, and  the  high  patriotism  which  by  day  and 
by  night  has  guided  him  in  difficult  situations 
and  unexpected  emergencies.  I  know  of  no  duty 
which  can  rest  more  solemnly  upon  the  American 
people  than  that  of  sustaining  and  strengthening 
him  in  the  great  responsibilities  he  is  bearing  so 
bravely  and  so  well.  Statesmanship  does  not 
require  absolute  foreknowledge,  but  it  does 
require    the  rare   ability   to  meet    conditions  as 


so  VEREIGNTY  FOLLO  WS  THE  FLA  G.        233 

they  ariseo  When  Dewey  sailed  into  the  bay  he 
readjusted  in  an  hour  the  policies  and  aims  of  a 
century.  He  changed  the  balance  and  equilib- 
rium of  nations,  and  served  notice,  with  every 
shot  he  fired,  that  henceforth  the  United  States 
must  be  counted. 

We  have  entered  new  fields,  as  advancing 
nations  always  do  ;  we  have  assumed  new  duties, 
as  living  nations  always  must.  It  may,  indeed, 
be  true  that  our  fathers  did  not  write  out  on 
parchment  what  must  be  done  if,  by  the  fortunes 
of  war,  our  flag  should  be  carried  to  islands  and 
seas  remote.  But,  gentlemen,  the  flag  cannot 
come  down.  The  institutions  and  the  polity  of  a 
free  republic  are  equal  to  new  conditions,  or  they 
are  worthless.  A  nation  that  cannot  keep  pace 
with  what  its  own  arms  have  accomplished  is 
already  catalogued  with  the  incapable  and -the 
degenerate.  The  New  Union,  which  war  has 
welded  more  firmly  together,  summons  us  and 
leads  us  forward.  It  does  not  invite  responsibil- 
ities nor  shrink  from  them.  History  has  been 
busy  in  these  last  eventful  months,  interfusing 
all  the  elements  of  our  national  life,  so  that  the 
parts  forget  that  they  are  parts,  and  remember 
only  an  indissoluble,  indivisible,  indestructible 
Union. 


234        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

The  Conquerors. 

Hon.    Cresswell  MacLaughlin. 

I  BELIEVE  the  conquerors  of  this  civilization 
and  the  conquerors  of  all  time  are  those  triumph- 
ant principles  which  do  not  depend  upon  war. 
The  strongest  single,  individual,  divine  human 
force  on  earth  is  conquering  the  human  race 
through  love.  The  time  has  passed  when  any- 
thing like  brute  force  shall  be  admired.  Napo- 
leon stood  before  the  Sphinx  interrogating  its 
silence  in  vain.  The  questions  he  asked  will 
never  be  answered.  Even  though  the  unfettered 
intellect  of  modern  times  surpasses  in  achievement 
all  dreams  of  the  ancients.  The  spirit  of  liberty, 
the  assurance  of  independence,  the  democracy  of 
education — these  things  have  made  the  American 
people  the  hope  of  the  world.  Civil  and  religious 
liberty,  the  chance  of  childhood,  the  reward  of 
merit  regardless  of  wealth  or  social  position,  the 
awakening  of  the  mind  from  its  slumber  of  cen- 
turies, the  dazzling  splendor  of  invention,  the 
stupendous  accomplishments  of  Science,  Art, 
Commerce — all  these,  coupled  with  a  capacity 
for  self-government  demonstrated  beyond  doubt 
by  every  test  of  national  endurance,  makes  the 
American  people  the  balancing  power  of  the 
world.  And  yet  we  are  only  standing  upon  the 
threshold  of  mystery,  like  little  children  still  upon 
the  portal  of  the  ocean,  charmed  by  the  pebbles 


THE  CONQUERORS,  235 

that  are  polished  by  the  friction  of  the  sea.  The 
spectacles  that  would  have  paralyzed  the  sight  of 
our  ancestors  have  long  ceased  to  fascinate  us. 
The  mind  refuses  to  be  astounded,  neither  shock 
of  nature,  nor  discovery  of  genius  disturbs  the 
equilibrium  of  the  American.  Courage  is  the 
force  of  it  all.  Courage  and  the  atmosphere  of 
freedom.  Courage  in  education  and  charity. 
Courage  in  invention,  in  execution,  in  construc- 
tion ;  the  knowledge  and  the  nerve  of  the  leaders 
in  all  conflicts  that  confront  the  advance  of  the 
race.  Courage  in  the  conception  and  building  of 
mighty  industries ;  courage  in  conquering  prob- 
lems of  communication  ;  courage  in  the  porten- 
tous tasks  of  civil,  mining  and  mechanical  engi- 
neering ;  courage  in  the  spirit  of  a  stoic  will  to 
master  the  material  world.  Who  can  unfold  the 
future?  Who  can  solve  the  riddle  of  another 
hundred  years  ?  As  well  ask  the  plans  of  Omni- 
potence. We  work  with  the  forces  of  energies 
unknown.  We  attack  the  principles  of  life  and 
wrestle  with  the  enigmas  of  God.  We  put  our 
voice  in  a  cylinder  for  the  audience  of  coming 
ages.  We  whisper  and  the  vibration  of  our 
thought  resounds  throughout  the  world.  We 
check  the  charger  of  the  racing  wind  and  make 
a  horse  of  air.  We  press  a  pin  and  the  solemn 
night  bursts  into  stars.  But  man  is  the  same. 
Nature  is  the  same.  The  chariot  of  the  sun 
drives  down  the  centuries  and  Time  is  the  same. 


236       BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

Circumscribed  by  laws  of  gravitation  and  the 
grave,  man  is  forever  bafifled  by  the  Infinite.  Man 
studies  the  heavens  and  registers  the  behavior  of 
planets,  he  cherishes  a  star  but  he  can  never 
touch  it,  he  sounds  the  deep  but  he  can  never 
stand  upon  its  bottom,  he  tunnels  the  earth  but 
he  will  never  reach  its  centre,  he  sees  the  struc- 
ture of  the  body  but  he  knows  not  the  life  that 
gives  it  god-like  motion,  he  is  aware  of  the  com- 
plex wonder  of  the  brain,  but  he  will  never  know 
its  mystery.  A  deluge  may  come  and  the  treas- 
ures of  time  may  be  buried  in  oblivion,  but  man 
will  be  the  same  and  Nature  will  be  the  same. 
Man  will  start  out  anew  to  study  what  he  yearns 
to  know.  But  he  will  never  know.  Arts  may 
be  lost  but  he  will  find  them,  civilization  may 
vanish  but  he  will  restore  it,  yet  all  his  work  is 
human  and  he  cannot  rise  beyond  himself.  The 
man  dies,  the  individual  disappears,  the  race  goes 
on,  the  record  is  written  in  the  rock  and  the  obit- 
uary of  genius  is  the  history  of  the  world. 

Ah,  yes !  and  love  is  the  same  and  hope  is  the 
same  and  God  is  the  same. 

In  the  grandeur  of  the  age  we  realize  how  small 
we  are.  With  all  our  vanity  of  learning  what  do 
we  know?  The  little  child  is  our  philosopher. 
You  cannot  answer  his  questions,  who  will  answer 
yours?  Therefore  the  Twentieth  Century  must 
surpass  all  others  in  love,  for  that  does  not  pass 
away.     The  way  to  make  the  world  happy  is  to 


THE   CONQUERORS.  237 

study  the  happiness  of  those  who  are  in  your 
home,  in  your  workshop,  in  the  circle  of  your 
life.  The  firmament  is  not  made  of  a  single  sun, 
but  by  millions  of  systems  of  stars. 

Hope  is  on  the  countenance  of  the  republic  as 
with  patience  and  determination  they  see  the 
solid  centuries  of  struggle  passing  in  review ; 
each  century  stamping  its  image  in  the  stones  of 
history;  each  century  moving  upon  a  higher 
plan  of  possibility ;  each  assuming  more  porten- 
tous proportions — until  the  ninteenth  and  the 
last,  glowing  with  enlightenment  arises  above  the 
rest  to  an  altitude  of  human  grandeur  amazing 
and  sublime.  And  on  the  summit  of  this  century, 
erect,  with  her  face  toward  the  sun,  pregnant 
with  peace  for  the  world,  fearless,  faithful  and 
calm,  stands  the  Goddess  of  Liberty  holding  in 
one  hand  the  sword  and  in  the  other  education. 
On  her  brow  rests  a  wreath  of  roses  and  on  her 
neck  sparkles  the  jewels  of  wealth.  Her  gar- 
ments fall  in  folds  of  grace  upon  a  figure  the 
companion  of  which  Great  Phideas  never  saw  in 
his  visions  of  Minerva,  nor  all  the  imagery  of 
Greece  could  fashion  such  a  queen.  And  her 
name  is  Peace  and  her  name  is  Charity  and  her 
name  is  Virtue.  She  is  the  mother  of  Time  and 
her  children  are  order  and  law,  education,  liberty, 
patience  and  patriotism.  At  her  feet  are  plead- 
ing empires  and  at  her  breasts  nurse  the  nations 
of  the  world. 


238       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

"Let  Us  Have  Peace." 

Hon.  CarlSchurz. 
Contributed  by  the  author. 

There  are  strange  teachings  put  forth  among 
us  by  some  persons,  that  a  war,  from  time  to 
time,  is  by  no  means  a  misfortune,  but  rather  a 
healthy  exercise  to  stir  up  our  patriotism,  and  to 
keep  us  from  becoming  effeminate.  Indeed, 
there  are  some  of  them  busily  looking  round  for 
somebody  to  fight  as  the  crazed  Malay  runs 
amuck  looking  for  somebody  to  kill.  The  idea 
that  the  stalwart  and  hard  working  American 
people,  engaged  in  subduing  to  civilization  an 
immense  continent,  need  foreign  wars  to  pre- 
serve their  manhood  from  dropping  into  effemi- 
nacy, or  that  their  love  of  country  will  flag 
unless  stimulated  by  hatred  of  somebody  else,  or 
that  they  must  have  bloodshed  and  devastation 
as  an  outdoor  exercise  in  the  place  of  other 
sports — such  an  idea  is  as  preposterous  as  it  is 
disgraceful  and  abominable. 

There  are  also  corrupt  politicians  eager  to 
plunder  the  public  under  a  cheap  guise  of  patri- 
otism, and  unscrupulous  speculators  looking  for 
gambling  and  pilfering  opportunities  in  their 
country's  trouble,  and  wishing  for  war  as  the 
piratical  wrecker  on  his  rocky  shores  wishes  for 
fogs  or  hurricanes.  They  deserve  the  detestation 
of  every  decent  man. 


"  LET  US  HA  VE  PEACE  J"  239 

General  Sherman,  whose  memory  is  dear  to 
us  all,  is  reported  to  have  said,  in  his  vigorous 
way  :  "  You  want  to  know  what  war  is  ?  War  is 
hell."  And  nobody  who  has  seen  war  as  he  had, 
will  question  the  truthfulness  of  this  character- 
istic saying.  True,  war  sometimes  develops 
noble  emotions  and  heroic  qualities  in  individ- 
uals or  in  a  people  ;  but  war  is  hell  for  all  that.  If 
our  boasted  civilization  and  Christianity  are  to 
mean  anything,  they  should  mean  this  :  No  war 
is  justifiable  unless  its  cause  or  object  stand  in 
just  proportion  to  its  cost  in  blood,  in  destruc- 
tion, in  human  misery,  in  waste,  in  political  cor- 
ruption, in  social  demoralization,  in  relapse  of 
civilization  ;  and  even  then  it  is  justifiable  only 
when  every  expedient  of  statesmanship  to  avert 
it  has  been  thoroughly  exhausted,      r* 

What  is  the  rule  of  honor  to  be  observed  by  a 
power  so  strong  and  so  advantageously  situated 
as  this  republic  is?  Of  course,  I  do  not  expect 
it  meekly  to  pocket  real  insults  if  they  should  be 
offered  to  it.  But  surely,  it  should  not,  as  our 
boyish  jingoes  wish  it  to  do,  swagger  about 
among  the  nations  of  the  world,  with  a  chip  on 
its  shoulder,  and  shaking  its  fist  in  everybody's 
face.  Of  course,  it  should  not  tamely  submit  to 
real  encroachments  upon  its  rights.  But,  surely, 
it  should  not,  whenever  its  own  notions  of  right 
or  interest  collide  with  the  notions  of  others,  fall 
into  hysterics  and  act  as  if  it  really  feared  for  its 


240       BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

own  security  and  its  very  independence.  As  a 
true  gentleman,  conscious  of  his  strength  and  his 
dignity,  it  should  be  slow  to  take  offence.  In  its 
dealings  with  other  nations  it  should  have  scru- 
pulous regard,  not  only  for  their  rights,  but  also 
for  their  self  respect.  With  all  its  latent  resources 
for  war,  it  should  be  the  great  peace  power  of  the 
world.  It  should  never  forget  what  a  proud  priv- 
ilege and  what  an  inestimable  blessing  it  is  not 
to  need  and  not  to  have  big  armies  or  navies  to 
support.  It  should  seek  to  influence  mankind, 
not  by  heavy  artillery,  but  by  good  example  and 
wise  counsil.  It  should  see  its  highest  glory, 
not  in  battles  won,  but  in  wars  prevented.  It 
should  be  so  invariably  just  and  fair,  so  trust- 
worthy, so  good  tempered,  so  conciliatory,  that 
other  nations  would  instinctively  turn  to  it  as 
their  mutual  friend  and  the  natural  adjuster  of 
their  differences,  thus  making  it  the  greatest  pre- 
server of  the  world's  peace. 

This  is  not  a  mere  idealistic  fancy.  It  is  the 
natural  position  of  this  great  republic  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  It  is  its  noblest  vocation, 
and  it  will  be  a  glorious  day  for  the  United 
States  when  the  good  sense  and  the  self-respect 
of  the  American  people  see  in  this  their  **  mani- 
fest destiny."  It  all  rests  upon  peace.  Is  not 
this  peace  with  honor?  There  has,  of  late,  been 
much  loose  speech  about  **  Americanism."  Is 
not  this  good  Americanism?      It  is  surely  to-day 


HONOR  TO  THE  PATRIOT  SPY.  24 1 

the  Americanism  of  those  who  love  their  country 
most.  And  I  fervently  hope  that  it  will  be  and 
ever  remain  the  Americanism  of  our  children 
and  children's  children. 


Honor  to  the  Patriot  Spy, 

Edward  Everett  PIale.  D.  D. 

Celebrating  Evacuation  Day,  the  anniversary  of  the  de- 
parture of  the  British  troops  from  the  independent  United 
States,  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution  presented  to  the  City  of 
New  York  a  bronze  statue  of  Captain  Nathan  Hale,  the 
young  patriot  who  sacrificed  his  Hfe  in  1776  for  the  cause  of 
his  Country's  freedom.  Of  heroic  size  the  statue  stands  on 
a  drum-Hke  base  and  looks  out  on  Broadway  from  the 
south-west  corner  of  the  park. 

Every  line  of  the  figure  seems  to  speak  of  the  sad  story  of 
the  youthful  hero,  and  the  cord-bound  ankles  and  pin- 
ioned arms,  the  placid,  fearless  countenance,  and  the  defi- 
ant poise  of  the  head  told  better  than  voice  or  pen  the  story 
of  the  patriot's  sacrifice.  The  historic  park  was  alive  with 
patriotism.  The  scene  was  a  most  picturesque  one.  On  the 
City  Hall  the  flags  of  the  State  and  the  Nation  waved  in  a 
bracing  breeze.  Facing  the  statue  was  a  long  platform  and 
tiers  of  seats,  all  decked  with  the  colors  of  the  flag.  There 
were  men  with  names  their  ancestors  had  written  in  the 
Nation's  history,  and  there  were  fair  women  who  boast 
their  descent  from  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution. 

On  three  sides  x)f  the  park  were  the  soldiers,  relieving  by 
the  brightness  of  their  arms  and  uniforms  the  sombre  pic- 
ture of  a  sunless  day.  Most  of  them  were  of  the  regular 
army,  parading  by  permission  of  Major-Gen.  O.  O.  Howard, 
commanding  the  department  of  the  East.     The  gallant  old 


7 


242        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

guard  in  all  the  majesty  of  huge  shakos,  brilliant  uniforms, 
and  flashing  accoutrements  showed  their  veteran  training. 
There  were  also  three  batallions  of  marines  from  the  United 
States  ships.  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  Colonial  Dames  of 
America,  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  guests  of 
the  day  filled  the  platform  near  the  statue.  At  three  o'clock 
the  strains  of  the  First  Artillery  Band  could  be  faintly 
heard  up  Broadway,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  Old  Guard, 
the  Marines,  the  Naval  Brigade  and  the  various  societies 
began  to  tramp  steadily  by  and  make  formation  on  three 
sides  of  the  square. 

The  excercises  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Morgan 
Dix,  the  chaplain  of  the  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, after  which  William  Gaston  Hamilton,  Chairman  of 
the  Statue  Committee,  presented  the  Statue  to  the  City. 
When  the  cord  was  pulled  which  released  from  the  figure 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  which  enfolded  it,  thousands  of  throats 
sent  out  a  mighty  chorus  of  hurrahs,  bands  blazed  the 
favorite  anthems  of  the  Nation,  and  as  the  last  fold  fell 
over  the  wreath  of  laurel  resting  against  the  polished  base, 
a  salute  of  thirteen  guns,  fired  by  Light  Battery  K,  United 
States  Artillery,  seemed  to  shake  the  City  to  its  foundation. 

President  Frederick  Samuel  Talmadge  in  a  speech  ac- 
cepted the  Statue  for  the  Society,  Major  Gilroy  accepted  it 
for  the  City,  General  Howard  spoke  for  the  Army  and  Navy, 
and  the  venerable  Edward  Everett  Hale,  grand  nephew  of 
Nathan  Hale  was  called  upon  to  speak  for  the  descendants 
of  the  Hale  family.  With  this  address  the  excercises  ended, 
the  band  played  "  Hail  Columbia  "  and  the  crowd  gave  one 
mighty  cheer  and  drifted  away. 

This  occasion,  I  suppose,  is  without  a  parallel 
in  history.  Certainly  I  know  of  no  other  instance 
where,  more  than  a  century  after  the  death  of  a 
boy  of  twenty-one,  his  countrymen  assembled  in 


HONOR  TO  THE  PATRIOT  SPY,  243 

such  numbers  as  are  here  to  do  honor  to  Hale's 
memory,  and  to  dedicate  the  statue  which  pre- 
serves it.  Let  us  never  forget  that  the  monu- 
ment unveiled  to-day  is  the  monument  of  a 
young  man;  that  he  is  the  young  man's  hero,  let 
us  never  forget  how  the  country  then-  tru_sted 
young  men  and  how  worthy  they  were  of  that 
trust.  Hamilton  was  at  this  time  in  his  nine- 
teenth year  and  he  had  already  won  the  confi- 
dence of  Greene,  and  been  invited  by  Washington 
into  his  tent.  Knox,  who  commanded  Hamil- 
ton's Regiment  was  about  twenty-four ;  Webb, 
who  commanded  Hale's  Regiment  was  twenty- 
two.  When  in  the  next  year  Washington 
welcomed  La  Fayette,  whom  Congress  appointed 
Major-General,  he  was  not  yet  twenty,  and 
Washington  himself  before  whose  age  and  exper- 
ience others  stood  abashed,  had  only  attained 
the  venerable  age  of  forty-four.  The  Country 
needed  her  young  men  ;  she  called  for  them,  and 
she  had  them.  It  is  one  of  these  young  men  who, 
dying  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  leaves  as  his  only 
word  of  regret  "  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  but  one 
life  to  give  for  my  country  "  ;  because  that  boy 
said  those  words,  and  because  he  died,  thousands 
of  other  young  men  have  given  their  lives  each 
to  his  country,  and  served  her  as  she  bade  them 
serve  her,  even  though  they  died  as  she  bade 
them  die. 

The  fate  of  Andre  and  the  fate  of  Hale  have 


244       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

been  compared.  Observe  that  Andre  died  say 
ing  :  "  I  pray  you  to  bear  me  witness  that  I  meet 
my  fate  like  a  brave  man."  Hale  died  saying  : 
"  I  only  regret  that  I  have  but  one  life  to  give 
for  my  country."  **  My  Country  "  were  his  last 
words.  May  his  country  know  how  to  train  her 
boys  and  how  to  honor  them  so  that  she  may  be 
sure  of  such  service  and  such  sacrifice. 


Our  Commercial  Relations. 

Hon.  Shelby  Cullom. 

The  old  Washington  policy  of  extending  our 
commercial  relations,  but  having  as  little  politi- 
cal alliance  with  foreign  powers  as  possible,  is 
still  imperative.  This  has  been  our  policy,  and 
in  my  judgment  it  should  continue  to  be.  We 
desire  to  be  at  peace  with  all  the  world.  We 
are  at  peace  with  all  nations — with  Great  Britain, 
the  mother  country  ;  with  Germany,  whose  peo- 
ple have  cast  their  lot  with  us  and  are  numbered 
by  millions ;  France,  Russia,  Austria,  and  now 
with  Spain,  and  I  might  add  the  South  Ameri- 
can republics ;  Japan  and  China.  We  are  not 
ambitious  for  conquest  of  territory.  We  desire 
as  a  Christian  nation  to  benefit  mankind.  We 
love  liberty,  and  we  will  rejoice  as  the  nations, 
one  and  all,  shall  give  greater  comfort  and  lib- 
erty to  the  great   masses  of  people.     It  should 


OUR  COMMERCIAL  RELATIONS.  245 

be  the  duty  of  government  to  lift  up  the  people 
to  a  plane  of  greater  happiness  from  generation 
to  generation.  The  whole  course  and  history  of 
the  United  States  furnish  sufficient  guarantee 
for  the  continuance  and  maintenance  of  those 
humane  and  liberal  principles  upon  which  our 
system  was  founded.  There  need  be  no  fear 
that  the  justice  of  our  people  will  ever  permit 
any  policy  of  tyranny  to  be  established  anywhere 
under  the  shadow  of  the  American  flag. 

This  Government  prefers  to  be  a  conservator 
of  peace  rather  than  to  encourage  or  engage  in 
war.  The  people  of  this  country  prefer  to  be 
promoters  of  industry  and  commerce  rather  than 
be  engaged  in  bloody  conflict.  We  are  ambi- 
tious to  unfurl  our  sails  and  send  our  products 
into  every  harbor  on  every  sea.  At  no  time 
since  the  sun  rose  on  the  Constitutional  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  has  our  commerce 
with  foreign  nations  been  so  great  as  in  1898. 
We  are  growing  rapidly  to  appreciate  the  world- 
power  of  commerce. 

The  commerce  of  the  world  produces  the  im- 
pulse which  largely  controls  the  peace  of  the 
world.  In  no  better  way  can  the  United  States, 
as  a  republic,  make  its  power  felt.  The  exten- 
sion of  its  commerce  means  the  extension  of  its 
power  in  the  world.  The  ships  of  all  nations 
seek  our  shores  and  bear  away  our  products  and 
manufactures  to  all  lands.     Our  locomotives  are 


246       BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

sent  to  England,  Russia,  and  China.  Our  ma- 
chinery and  other  products  will  soon  reach  the 
markets  of  all  the  nations.  And  this  interchange 
and  transportation  of  industries,  extending  around 
the  world,  will  do  more  to  spread  peace  and 
enlightenment  over  both  hemispheres  than  all 
other  agencies,  and  make  this  Republic  from 
year  to  year  a  greater  world-power. 

The  nations  are  becoming,  as  time  passes, 
nearer  to  each  other.  Here  in  our  nation's  capi- 
tal we  celebrate  the  end  of  war  in  a  Jubilee  of 
Peace.  The  nations  of  the  world  are  in  session 
at  the  capital  of  the  Netherlands  in  the  interest 
of  the  peace  of  the  world.  My  prayer  is  that 
the  time  may  come  when  "  nations  shall  not  lift 
up  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn 
war  any  more, "  and  that  "  they  shall  beat  their 
swords  into  ploughshares  and  their  spears  into 
pruning-hooks. " 


Dead  Upon  the  Field  of  Honor. 

Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson. 

We  meet  to-day  for  a  purpose    that  has  the 
y^   dignity  and  the  tenderness  of  funeral  rites  with- 
out their  sadness.     It  is  not  a  new  bereavement, 
but  one  which  time  has  softened,  that  brings  us 
/J'        here.     We    meet    not    around   a   newly-opened 
grave,  but  among  those  which  Nature  has  already 


> 


tj 


DEAD  UPON  THE  FIELD  OF  HONOR,         247 

decorated  with  the  memorials  of  her  love. 
Above  every  tomb  her  daily  sunshine  has  smiled, 
her  tears  have  wept ;  over  the  humblest  she  has 
bidden  some  grasses  nestle,  some  vines  creep, 
and  the  butterfly — ancient  emblem  of  immortal- 
ity— waves  his  little  wings  above  every  sod.  To 
Nature's  signs  of  tenderness  we  add  our  own. 
Not  '*  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust,"  but  blossoms 
to  blossoms,  laurels  to  the  laureled. 
^^-^The  great  civil  war  has  passed  by — its  great 
\^'  armies  were  disbanded,  their  tents  struck,  their 
camp-fires  put  out,  their  muster  rolls  laid  away. 
But  there  is  another  army  whose  numbers  no 
presidential  proclamation  could  reduce ;  no  gen- 
eral orders  disband.  This  is  their  camping-ground 
— these  white  stones  are  their  tents — this  list  of 
names  we  bear  is  their  muster-roll — their  camp- 
fires  yet  burn  in  our  hearts.       -er-tv  je^   ll^\^-  (nretoisy 

I  remember  this  "  Sweet  Auburn  **  when  no 
saci^d  associations  made  it  sweeter,  and  when  its 
trees  looked  down  on  no  funerals  but  those  of 
the  bird  and  the  bee.  Time  has  enriched  its 
memories  since  those  days.  And  especially  dur- 
ing our  great  war,  as  the  nation  seemed  to  grow 
impoverished  in  men,  these  hills  grew  richer  in 
associations,  until  their  multiplying  wealth  took 
in  that  heroic  boy  who  fell  in  almost  the  last 
battle  of  the  war.  Now  that  roll  of  honor  has 
closed,  and  the  work  of  commemoration  begun. 
Without  distinction  of  nationality,  of  race,  of 


248       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  F. 

religion,  they  gave  their  lives  to  their  country. 
Without  distinction  of  religion,  of  race,  of  nation- 
ality, we  garland  their  graves  to-day.     The  young 
Roman  Catholic   convert,  who  died  exclaiming 
"Mary!    pardon!"    and   the    young    Protestant 
theological  student,  whose  favorite  place  of  study 
•^-"^    was  this  cemetery,  and  who  asked   only  that  no 
.  ^     words  of  praise  might  be  engraven  on  his  stone 
>-    — these  bore  alike  the  cross  in  their  lifetime,  and 
^     shall  bear  it  alike  in  flowers  to-day.     They  gave 
^      their  lives  that  we  might  remain  one  nation,  and 
the  nation  holds  their  memory  alike  in  its  arms. 
And    so    the  little    distinctions   of   rank   that 
separated    us  in    the   service    are    nothing   here. 
Death   has  given  the  same  brevet  to   all.     The 
brilliant  young  cavalry  general  who  rode  into  his 
last  action,  with  stars  on  his  shoulders  and  his 
death  wound  on  his  breast,   is   to   us   no  more 
precious  than  that  sergeant  of  sharpshooters  who 
followed  the  line  unarmed  at  Antietam,  waiting 
to  take  the  rifle  of  some  one  who  should  die, 
because  his  own  had  been  stolen ;  or  that  private 
who  did  the  same  thing  in  the  same  battle,  leav- 
ing the  hospital  service  to  which  he  had  been 
assigned.     Nature   has   been    equally  tender   to 
•Ken    the   graves  of   all,  and    our  love  knows  no  dis- 
Ltinction. 

What   a  wonderful  embalmer  is   death  !     We 

^   ^        who    survive   grow   daily  older.     Since   the  war 

closed  the  youngest  has  gained  some  new  wrinkle, 


DEAD  UPON  THE  FIELD  OF  HONOR,         249 

the  oldest  some  added  gray  hairs.  A  few  years 
more  and  only  a  few  tottering  figures  shall  repre- 
sent the  marching  files  of  the  Grand  Army;  a 
year  or  two  beyond  that,  and  there  shall  flutter 
by  the  window  the  last  empty  sleeve.  But  these 
who  are  here  are  embalmed  forever  in  our  imagin- 
ations; they  will  not  change;  they  never  will 
seem  to  us  less  young,  less  fresh,  less  daring, 
than  when  they  sallied  to  their  last  battle.  They 
will  always  have  the  dew  of  their  youth  ;  il  is  we 
alone  who  shall  grow  old. 

And,  again,  what  a  wonderful  purifier  is  death  !  ^i^q, 
These  who  fell  beside  us  varied  in  character ;  like 
other  men,  they  had  their  strength  and  their 
weaknesses,  their  merits  and  their  faults.  Yet 
now  all  stains  seemed  washed  away ;  their  life 
ceased  at  its  climax,  and  the  ending  sanctified  all 
that  went  before.  They  died  for  their  country;  ^K»o^ 
that  is  their  record.  They  found  their  way  to 
heaven  equally  short,  it  seems  to  us,  from  every 
battlefield,  and  with  equal  readiness  our  love 
seeks  them  to-day. 

"  What  is  a  victory  like?"  said  a  lady  to  the 
Duke  of  Wellington.  "  The  greatest  tragedy  in 
the  world,  madam,  except  a  defeat."  Even  our  pYjpV€Q 
great  war  would  be  but  a  tragedy  were  it  not  for 
the  warm  feeling  of  brotherhood  it  has  left 
behind  it,  based  on  the  hidden  emotions  of  days 
like  these.  The  war  has  given  peace  to  the 
nation  ;  it  has  given  union,  freedom,  equal  rights; 


250     BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

and  in  addition  to  that,  it  has  given  to  you  and 
me  the  sacred  sympathy  of  these  graves.  No 
matter  what  it  has  cost  us  individually — health 
or  worldly  fortunes — it  is  our  reward  that  we  can 
stand  to-day  among  these  graves  and  yet  npt 
blush  that  we  survive. 

The  great  French  soldier,  La  Tour  D'Auvergne, 
was  the  hero  of  many  battles,  but  remained  by 
his  own  choice  in  the  ranks.  Napoleon  gave  him 
a  sword  and  the  official  title  "  First  among  the 
grenadiers  of  France."  When  he  was  killed,  the 
emperor  ordered  that  his  heart  should  be  in- 
trusted to  the  keeping  of  his  regiment — that  his 
name  should  be  called  at  every  roll-call,  and  that 
his  next  comrade  should  make  answer,  *'  Dead 
upon  the  field  of  honor.'*  In  our  memories  are  lj^*i 
the  names  of  many  heroes ;  we  treasure  all  their 
hearts  in  this  consecrated  ground,  and  when  the 
name  of  each  is  called,  we  answer  in  flowers, 
"  Dead  upon  the  field  of  honor.'* 


The  State  Versus  Anarchy. 

L.  Clark  Seelye,  D.D.  ,  LL.D. 

President  of  Smith  College.     Abridged. 


What  is  anarchy?  It  is  a  very  old  spirit,  and 
has  existed  from  the  earliest  ages.  It  has  mani- 
fested   itself  in  every    age   and  in  nearly    every 


THE  STATE  VERSUS  ANARCHY.  25  I 

man.  We  see  it  in  the  child,  in  its  first  childish 
defiance  of  parental  law.  It  manifests  itself  in 
every  community ;  there  are  anarchists  here,  and 
there  are  anarchists  all  over  the  world.  Wherever 
men  are  determined  to  do  their  own  will,  or  pleas- 
ure, irrespective  of  the  laws  which  have  been 
enacted  for  public  welfare — there  is  the  spirit  of 
anarchy.  Every  criminal  has  it.  "  No  thief  ere 
felt  the  halter  draw.  With  good  opinion  of  the 
law.  *'  Arson,  theft,  drunkenness,  adultery,  mur- 
der— all  the  horrible  crimes  which  have  ever 
been  committed,  are  its  natural  fruit.  And  the 
unending  struggle  of  humanity,  from  the  earliest 
age,  has  been  to  gain  the  victory  over  this  vile 
spirit,  and  bring  it  into  subjection. 

In  modern  times,  however,  it  appears  in  a 
somewhat  new  guise  of  a  philosophic  reformer. 
The  ravening  wolf  comes  to  us,  at  first,  in  sheep's 
clothing.  Anarchy  poses  as  a  social  benefactor 
and  propounds  its  theory  as  a  sure  panacea  for 
existing  ills.  Citing  the  abuses  and  diseases  of 
existing  governments,  it  maintains  that  these  can 
only  be  removed  by  the  annihilation  of  govern- 
ment, that  the  government  of  any  man  is  worse 
than  useless,  and  the  state  is  only  another  name 
for  oppression.  They  have  paraphrased  Jeffer- 
son's famous  maxim  in  the  couplet, 

"  The  very  best  government  of  all 
Is  that  which  governs  not  at  all.  " 

They   recognize  no  rights  of  any  individual  or 


252     BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF   TO-DAY. 

body  of  individuals  to  interfere  with  them  and 
declare  they  will  have  neither  state  nor  laws. 
Never  was  a  theory  propounded  so  utterly  lack- 
ing in  reasonable  basis,  so  fully  disproved  by  the 
plainest  facts. 

What  then  is  this  power  we  call  the  state,  the 
nation,  which  anarchy  seeks  to  destroy  ?  Its  origin 
also  goes  back  to  primeval  history.  The  ancients 
believed  it  came  from  God,  and  that  the  ruler  or 
king  was  God's  vicegerent.  In  popular  mytholo- 
gies, which  often  express  in  poetical  form  the  earli- 
est conceptions  of  truth,  the  rulers  and  mighty 
men  were  said  to  have  descended  from  a  divine 
forefather.  The  body  politic  was  regarded  as  a 
body  divine,  through  which  the  divine  law  of 
righteousness  was  to  be  realized  among  men. 

Did  not  these  early  conceptions  express,  in  a 
crude  way,  an  eternal  truth  ?  May  we  not  believe 
that  the  nation,  like  the  individual,  has  its  origin 
in  a  common  creator?  Man  no  more  made  its 
essential  sovereignty  than  he  made  himself.  Men 
were  created  for  each  other,  to  find  in  their 
union  as  citizens  their  primal  law  of  growth.  As 
an  old  philosopher  puts  it,  "  Man  is  by  nature  a 
political  being. "  It  is  not  mere  mysticism  when 
we  speak  of  the  nation,  therefore,  as  a  moral 
person. 

The  nation  as  an  organization  we  may  regard 
as  a  divine  idea,  Man  was  created  for  it.  It  is 
bone  of  our  bone,  and  flesh  of  our  flesh,  and  what 


THE  ST  A  TE  VERSUS  ANARCH  Y.  253 

God  hath  thus  joined  together,  man  can  never 
put  asunder  without  grievous  injury. 

There  has  been  no  true  development  of  the 
individual  apart  from  the  national  life.  Without 
it,  we  have  the  mob,  the  horde,  the  despotism. 
The  record  of  man's  life  apart  from  the  State 
has  ever  been  that  of  a  slave,  and  a  slave  to  the 
lowest  brutal  appetites,  or  the  most  debasing 
superstitions.  The  interests  of  the  individual 
and  the  interests  of  the  Nation  have  ever  been 
identical.  For  the  ideal  of  the  Nation  and  of 
the  individual  must  be  the  perfect  freedom  which 
comes  from  obedience  to  righteous  law.  To  be 
master  of  himself,  man  must  be  subject  to  other 
men.  His  own  will  must  be  strengthened  and 
perfected  by  loyal  submission  to  the  authority 
of  a  higher  reason.  The  State  takes  from  no 
man,  therefore,  any  right  when  it  prohibits  vice. 
It  maintains  every  right  in  the  prohibition.  He 
gains  his  liberty  by  submission  to  rightful  law. 
True  liberty  exists  only  when  man's  better  nature 
sits  on  the  throne  and  reason  exercises,  unhin- 
dered, its  sovereignty. 

It  is  no  mere  figure  of  speech,  which  has  led 
men  in  so  many  ages  and  in  so  many  parts  of  the 
globe  to  speak  of  the  Nation  as  their  Fatherland, 
their  mother  country,  for  they  really  owe  to  it 
their  birthright  and  their  most  valuable  posses- 
sions. 

In  its  truest  sense,  the  Nation  represents  both 


254       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

fatherhood  and  motherhood.  It  is  the  mighty- 
parent  of  us  all,  to  which  we  owe  allegiance  by 
the  strongest  of  earthly  obligations.  It  offers  its 
protection  to  all  its  citizens  ; — to  those  who  are 
most  helpless  and  in  need  of  succor;  it  gives 
man  the  security  of  his  home,  the  blessings  of 
education,  and  the  liberty  to  worship  God ;  it 
offers  a  helping  hand  to  those  who  are  in  trouble 
and  want ;  it  furnishes  a  sound  basis  for  public 
credit,  it  defends  us  against  foreign  and  intestine 
foes,  it  secures  for  us  the  fruit  of  our  own  indus- 
try ;  it  provides  the  strongest  safeguards  for  truth, 
for  liberty  and  for  righteousness ;  it  is  in  truth^ 
what  Milton  called  it,  "  the  mighty  growth  and 
stature  of  an  honest  man  "  ordained  by  God  to 
take  from  the  human  spirit  its  fetters,  so  that 
humanity  may  enter  into  the  fullness  of  its  life, 
and  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  may  be  realized 
among  men. 

Far,  indeed  is  any  nation  from  the  attainment 
of  its  perfect  form.  None  has  yet  been  able  to 
remove  the  hindrances  to  freedom.  It  is  in  the 
midst  of  this  same  unceasing  conflict  which  exists 
in  the  individual  soul.  Just  as  we  struggle  in 
our  individual  spheres  with  the  forces  which  hin- 
der us  from  being  what  we  ought  to  be,  so  the 
nation  on  its  broader  theatre  of  action  is  strug- 
gling with  the  forces  which  prevent  it  from  help- 
ing us  and  others  as  it  ought. 

In  this  struggle  can  you  doubt,  on  which  side 


WHA  T  IS  TRUTH?  255 

a  man  ought  to  be,  and  which  of  these  two  ir- 
reconcilable foes — Anarchy  and  the  State — we 
should  strive  to  overcome  ? 

Let  us  not  forget,  however,  that  anarchy, 
although  so  comparatively  weak  and  despicable, 
can  never  be  overcome  by  the  use  of  its  own 
weapons.  A  lawless  spirit  we  can  not  extinguish 
by  lawless  measures.  Lynching  is  anarchy,  even 
though  an  anarchist  be  lynched.  Let  no  sug- 
gestion of  taking  the  law  into  one's  own  hands 
come  ever  from  the  pulpit,  press,  or  popular 
assembly.  To  repress  anarchy  most  effectually, 
we  must  seek  first  to  strengthen  and  purify  the 
government ;  we  must  elect  the  best  men  to  office 
— men  who  will  find  out  and  enact  wise  and  right- 
eous laws ;  we  must  cultivate  greater  respect  and 
reverence  for  law  ;  we  must  cease  to  calumniate 
and  villify  men  in  the  highest  posts  of  civil 
authority;  we  must  educate  the  people  and  pro- 
mote reverence  for  God  and  whatsoever  is  true 
and  good. 


What  Is  Truth  ? 

Henry  S.  Pritchett,  LL.  D. 

President  of  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology. 

In  the  days  of  the  Roman  Emperors  the  pro- 
curator of  a  certain  conquered  province  in  Asia 


256       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

Minor  found  before  him  two  parties,  each  of 
whom  claimed  to  represent  the  truth.  On  the 
one  side  were  the  religious  leaders  of  the  province, 
earnest,  narrow,  confident  that  they  were  the 
divinely  appointed  guardians  of  truth.  On  the 
other  side  stood  one  accused  by  them  of  impiety, 
unbelief,  and  disregard  of  the  law.  But  when 
the  accused  spoke,  his  plea  for  truth  was  so  noble 
and  so  earnest  that  it  aroused  the  attention  of 
even  the  careless  and  reckless  procurator,  and,  as 
he  looked  in  bewilderment  from  one  to  the  other, 
he  asked,  half  helplessly,  ''  What  is  truth  ?  " 

In  order  that  a  man  may  reach  truth,  and  hav- 
ing reached  it  make  it  effective,  at  least  two 
^qualities  are  necessary.  One  is  what  we  call 
moral  sense,  earnestness  of  purpose,  desire  to  do 
that  which  is  true.  The  other  is  intellectual 
clearness,  the  ability  to  think.  And  the  result 
which  a  man  accomplishes  is  in  large  measure  a 
function  not  of  one  but  of  both  of  these  qualities. 

You  have  in  mechanics  a  formula  for  the 
momentum  of  a  moving  body.  This  momentum 
depends  both  upon  the  mass  of  the  body  and 
upon  its  velocity,  and  is  equal  to  the  product  of 
the  mass  by  the  velocity.  The  momentum  of  a 
man  in  the  social  order  in  respect  to  truth  is 
represented  by  a  similar  formula.  His  efficiency 
equals  the  moral  purpose  multiplied  into  the 
ability  to  think  straight. 

The  world's  history  is  full  of  the  story  of  men 


WHAT  IS  TRUTH?  2$y 

who  had  one  of  these  qualities  and  who  failed  by 
lack  of  the  other.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  has 
done  the  greater  harm — blind  devotion  which 
would  not  see.  or  intelligence  which  saw  but 
lacked  purpose  and  moral  courage.  Each  has  at 
one  time  or  another  filled  the  world  with  crime 
and  suffering. 

There  is  another  quality  of  the  mind  which 
ought  also  to  enter  into  one's  attitude  toward 
truth,  and  which  is  characteristic  of  the  scientific 
spirit  and  of  the  scientific  method.  This  qualityv^ 
is  tolerance.  For  how  strong  soever  one  feels 
himself  to  be  in  purpose,  and  how  sure  soever  he 
may  consider  his  conception,  other  men  just  as 
sincere,  possibly  as  able,  will  discern  truth  in  a 
different  direction  and  approach  it  by  a  different 
path.  No  man,  no  party,  no  sect,  and  no  religion 
has  a  divine  monopoly  either  of  truth  itself  or 
of  the  ways  by  which  truth  may  be  found. 

The  principle  that  free  expression  of  opinion 
is  conceded  to  those  who  differ  from  the  recog- 
nized authorities  is  a  lesson  which  individuals 
and  parties,  societies  and  nations,  have  been  slow 
to  learn.  This  right,  so  far  as  social,  political, 
and  religious  questions  are  concerned,  is  limited 
to-day  by  curious  social  and  geographic  lines. 
It  is  the  boast  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  stock  that 
political  and  religious  freedom  has  found  its 
fairest  fruitage  in  Anglo-Saxon  civilization.  We 
who  live  under  a  regime  which  guarantees  to  each 


258       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO~DA  Y. 

citizen  freedom  of  thought  and  of  speech  do  well 
to  recall  now  and  then  the  mistakes  and  the 
difficulties  through  which  our  fathers  came  to 
learn  this  lesson.  It  is  a  story  full  of  the  weak- 
nesses and  of  the  strength  of  humanity  ;  a  story  of 
progress  step  by  step,  with  many  halts  and  back- 
ward steps ;  a  story  of  cruelty  and  of  devotion  ; 
of  the  blindness  of  the  many  and  of  the  clear 
vision  of  the  few ;  but  a  story  always  of  human 
progress  toward  truth. 

For  the  desire  to  compel  other  men  to  accept 
one's  own  view  of  truth  has  been  confined  to  no 
class  and  to  no  age.  It  has  been  a  very  human 
characteristic  since  the  days  when  men  lived  in 
caves  and  dressed  in  skins.  Kings  and  priests, 
having  had  most  power  in  their  hands,  have  had 
most  opportunity  to  use  the  argument  of  force. 
Mahomet  found  that  the  sword  was  the  surest 
argument  to  convert  a  stubborn  mind,  and 
doubtless  he  was  thoroughly  honest  in  his  belief. 
The  priests  who  crucified  Christ  felt  no  doubt  of 
their  devotion  to  truth.  A  few  centuries  later 
those  who  called  themselves  followers  of  Christ 
found  in  their  hands  the  power  to  persecute  men 
for  their  opinions,  and  they  did  not  hesitate  to 
use  it.  As  the  Rev.  John  Cotton,  in  his  con* 
troversy  with  Roger  Williams,  naively  asserted, 
persecution  is  not  wrong  in  itself  ;  "  it  is  wicked," 
said  he,  *'for  falsehood  to  persecute  truth,  but  it 
is  the  sacred    duty  of  truth  to  persecute    false- 


WHAT  IS  TRUTH?  259 

hood  ** ;  and  that,  teaching  bore  strange  fruit  for 
New  England  soil. 

We  think  of  Boston  Common  as  sacred  to 
liberty  and  to  freedom  and  to  the  rights  of  man; 
and  I  believe  there  is  no  spot  on  earth  more 
truly  dedicated  to  human  freedom.  Yet  it  has 
beheld  other  scenes  than  gatherings  of  indignant 
colonists  or  groups  of  patriot  citizens  anxious  for 
their  country's  future.  Our  thoughts  seldom  go 
back  to  that  October  morning  in  1659  when 
William  Robinson,  Marmaduke  Stevenson,  and 
Mary  Dyer  were  led  out  on  Boston  Common  to 
be  hanged  for  teaching  the  doctrines  of  the 
Quakers.  It  is  not  easy  for  us  at  this  day  to 
realize  that  men  and  women  could  be  hanged 
on  that  free  soil  for  rejecting  the  doctrine  of 
original  sin  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
for  denying  the  efficacy  of  baptism,  and  for 
asserting  the  absolute  right  of  private  judgment. 
And  I  remind  you  of  this  scene,  not  to  compare 
our  liberality  with  the  narrowness  of  our  fathers, 
but  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  by 
their  very  earnestness  of  purpose  and  by  their 
examination  and  discussion  of  religious  questions 
the  fathers  found  the  path  to  truth,  though  long 
and  rough ;  persecution  gave  way  to  tolerance, 
and  a  colony  founded  to  perpetuate  a  special 
view  of  divine  truth  became  a  State  where  any 
man  may  follow  truth  as  his  own  heart  and  his 
own  mind  direct.     And  this  ideal  is,    after   all. 


26o       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

that  toward  which  great  souls  have  labored  in 
all  ages.  For  this  scientific  method  is  no  new 
invention  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  men 
who  have  led  humanity  have  always  been  those 
who  went  forward  with  open  hearts  and  with 
clear  minds.  For  literature  and  science  and  poli- 
tics and  religion  are  not  separate  and  distinct 
things,  but  only  different  parts  of  the  same  thing ; 
different  paths  by  which  men  have  sought  after 
beauty  and  truth  and  righteousness — and  these 
are  one. 

We  know  truth  when  we  reach  it  of  our  own 
effort  and  make  it  our  truth.  The  politics  and 
the  religion  which  a  man  inherits,  without  think- 
ing and  without  effort,  count  little  toward  his 
political  and  his  spiritual  development.  Men 
differ,  and  will  always  differ,  as  to  what  truth  is 
in  this  or  in  that  matter,  but  that  man  finds  truth 
who  seeks  it ;  he  serves  truth  who  follows  it  fear- 
lessly; he  serves  his  fellow-men  who  does  all  this 
with  humility  and  with  tolerance. 

"Grant  us  in  this  world  knowledge  of  thy 
truth,  and  in  the  world  to  come  life  everlasting.  " 
This  short  prayer  has  come  down  to  us  from  one 
of  the  heroes  of  the  early  Church,  him  whom 
men  called  the  golden-tongued  ;  one  who,  after  a 
life  of  devotion  and  of  courage  and  of  tolerance, 
died  at  the  hands  of  ignorance  and  jealousy. 
The  words  of  this  prayer,  few  and  simple  as  they 
are,  seem  to  me  to  ask  all  that  a  human  soul  can 


A  NEW  CENTURY  GREETING.  26 1 

ask — in  this  world  knowledge  of  God's  truth,  in 
the  world  to  come  the  life  everlasting.  The 
educated  man,  the  courageous  man,  the  tolerant 
man,  has  no  other  prayer. 


A  New  Century  Greeting. 
Andrew  Carnegie, 

The  world,  led  by  the  American  Republic, 
took  a  long  step  upward  in  the  closing  days  of 
the  year,  1902. 

Last  century  one  Russian  Emperor,  Alexander 
II,  and  one  American  President,Lincoln,  banished 
from  the  civilized  world  human  slavery — the  own- 
ing of  man  by  man. 

To-day  another  Russian  Emperor,  Nicholas 
II,  and  another  American  President,  Roosevelt, 
have  jointly  pronounced  the  coming  banishment 
of  earth's  most  revolting  spectacle — human  war 
— the  killing  of  man  by  man. 

The  former  suggested,  the  latter  breathed  the 
breath  of  life  into.  The  Hague  tribunal,  the  per- 
manent high  court  of  humanity,  for  the  peaceful 
settlement  of  international  disputes.  Henceforth 
the  nation  which  refuses  to  submit  its  quarrel  to 
this  tribunal  places  itself  in  the  wrong ;  the 
world  will  believe  it  has  not  its  "  quarrel  just." 
This  will  disturb  its  conscience  and  shorten  its 
sword. 


262        BEST  AMERICAN-  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V, 

Differences  may  still  arise  which  may  not  be 
submitted,  the  barbarous  appeal  to  force  may 
still  disgrace  our  civilization  for  a  time,  the  em- 
bers and  scoriae  from  the  seething  pit  of  savagery 
may  explode  here  and  there  at  longer  and  longer 
intervals  as  time  passes,  but  the  complete  ban- 
ishment of  war  draws  near.  Its  death  wound 
dates  from  the  day  that  President  Roosevelt  led 
five  opposing  powers,  four  being  of  the  very  first 
rank,  to  the  Court  of  Peace,  and  thus  proclaimed 
it  the  appointed  substitute  for  that  which  had 
hitherto  stained  the  earth — the  killing  of  men  by 
each  other. 

These  four  rulers  must  ever  rank  among  the 
supreme  benefactors  of  man.  Whatsoever  may 
lie  upon  the  laps  of  the  gods  for  the  two  still  in 
the  midst  of  their  careers,  it  seems  impossible 
that  any  other  service  they  may  yet  render  can 
approach  that  which  has  insured  them  enduring 
fame  among  the  highest. 

It  is  when  such  a  step  forward  as  this  is  taken 
that  we  are  reverently,  moved  to  exclaim,  "  Truly 
all  is  well  since  all  grows  better;  man  marches 
upward !  " 


Rufus  Choate. 

Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate. 

It  is  forty  years  since    Rufus  Choate   strode 
the  ancient  streets  of  Boston  with  his  majestic 


RUFUS  CHOA  TE.  263 

Step — forty  years  since  the  marvellous  music  of 
his  voice  was  heard  by  the  living  ear —  and  those 
who,  as  students  and  youthful  disciples,  followed 
his  footsteps,  and  listened  to  his  eloquence,  and 
almost  worshipped  his  presence,  whose  ideal  and 
idol  he  was,  are  already  many  years  older  than 
he  lived  to  be  ;  but  there  must  be  a  few  still 
living  who  were  in  the  admiring  crowds  that 
hung  with  rapture  on  his  lips — in  the  courts  of 
justice,  in  the  densely  packed  assembly,  in  the 
Senate,  in  the  Constitutional  Convention,  or  in 
Faneuil  Hall  consecrated  to  Freedom — and  who 
can  still  recall,  among  life's  most  cherished  mem- 
ories, the  tones  of  that  matchless  voice,  that 
pallid  face  illuminated  with  rare  intelligence,  the 
flashing  glance  of  his  dark  eye,  and  the  light  of 
his  bewitching  smile.  But,  in  a  decade  or  two 
more,  these  lingering  witnesses  of  his  glory  and 
his  triumphs  will  have  passed  on,  and  to  the  next 
generation  he  will  be  but  a  name  and  a  statue, 
enshrined  in  fame's  temple  with  Cicero  and 
Burke,  with  Otis  and  Hamilton  and  Web- 
ster, with  Pinkney  and  Wirt,  whose  words  and 
thoughts  he  loved  to  study  and  to  master. 

Many  a  noted  orator,  many  a  great  lawyer, 
has  been  lost  in  oblivion  in  forty  years  after  the 
grave  closed  over  him,  but  I  venture  to  believe 
that  the  whole  Bar  of  America,  and  the  people 
of  Massachusetts,  have  kept  the  memory  of  no 
other  man  alive  and   green  so   long,  so   vividly 


264       BEST  AMERICAN'  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V, 

and  so  lovingly,  as  that  of  Rufus  Choate.  Many 
of  his  characteristic  utterances  have  become 
proverbial,  and  the  flashes  of  his  wit,  the  play 
of  his  fancy  and  the  gorgeous  pictures  of  his 
imagination  are  the  constant  themes  of  reminis- 
cence, wherever  American  lawyers  assemble  for 
social  converse. 

How  it  was  that  such  an  exotic  nature,  so 
ardent  and  tropical  in  all  its  manifestations,  so 
truly  southern  and  Italian  in  its  impulses,  and 
at  the  same  time  so  robust  and  sturdy  in  its 
strength,  could  have  been  produced  upon  the 
bleak  and  barren  soil  of  our  northern  cape,  and 
nurtured  under  the  chilling  blasts  of  its  east 
winds,  is  a  mystery  insoluble.  Truly,  "  this  is 
the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our 
eyes.  "  In  one  of  his  speeches  in  the  Senate,  he 
draws  the  distinction  between  "  the  cool  and 
slow  New  England  men,  and  the  mercurial  chil- 
dren of  the  sun,  who  sat  down  side  by  side  in  the 
presence  of  Washington,  to  form  our  more  perfect 
union."  If  ever  there  was  a  mercurial  child  of 
the  sun,  it  was  himself  most  happily  described.  I 
am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  the  stuff  that  a 
man  is  made  of  has  more  to  do  with  his  career 
than  any  education  or  environment.  The  great- 
ness that  is  achieved,  or  is  thrust  upon  some  men, 
dwindles  before  that  of  him  who  is  born  great. 
His  horoscope  was  propitious.  The  stars  in 
their  course  fought    for  him.     The  birthmark  of 


RUFUS  C HO  ATE.  265 

genius,  distinct  and  ineffaceable,  was  on  his  brow. 
He  came  of  a  long  line  of  pious  and  devout  ances- 
tors, whose  living  was  as  plain  as  their  thinking 
was  high.  It  was  from  father  and  mother  that 
he  derived  the  flame  of  intellect,  the  glow  of 
spirit  and  the  beauty  of  temperament  that  were 
so  unique. 

And  his  nurture  to  manhood  was  worthy  of 
the  child.  It  was  "  the  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord."  From  that  rough  pine  cradle, 
which  is  still  preserved  in  the  room  where  he 
was  born,  to  his  premature  grave  at  the  age  of 
fifty-nine,  it  was  one  long  course  of  training  and 
discipline  of  mind  and  character,  without  pause 
or  rest. 

Upon  the  solid  rock  of  the  Scriptures  he  built 
a  magnificent  structure  of  knowledge  and  acquire- 
ment, to  which  few  men  in  America  have  ever 
attained.  History,  philosophy,  poetry,  fiction, 
all  came  as  grist  to  his  mental  mill.  But  with 
him,  time  was  too  precious  to  read  any  trash ;  he 
could  winnow  the  wheat  from  the  chaff  at  sight, 
almost  by  touch.  He  sought  knowledge,  ideas, 
for  their  own  sake,  and  for  the  language  in  which 
they  were  conveyed. 

His  splendid  and  blazing  intellect,  fed  and 
enriched  by  constant  study  of  the  best  thoughts 
of  the  great  minds  of  the  race,  his  all-persuasive 
eloquence,  his  teeming  and  radiant  imagination, 
whirling  his  hearers  along  with  it,  and  sometimes 


266        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

overpowering  himself,  his  brilliant  and  sportive 
fancy,  lighting  up  the  most  arid  subjects  with  the 
glow  of  sunrise,  his  prodigious  and  never-failing 
memory,  and  his  playful  wit,  always  bursting 
forth  with  irresistible  impulse,  have  been  the 
subject  of  scores  of  essays  and  criticisms,  all 
struggling  with  the  vain  effort  to  describe  and 
crystallize  the  fascinating  and  magical  charm  of 
his  speech  and  his  influence. 

And  first,  and  far  above  his  splendid  talents 
and  his  triumphant  eloquence,  I  would  place  the 
character  of  the  man — pure,  honest,  delivered 
absolutely  from  all  the  temptations  of  sordid  and 
mercenary  things,  aspiring  daily  to  what  was 
higher  and  better,  loathing  all  that  was  vulgar 
and  of  low  repute,  simple  as  a  child,  and  tender 
and  sympathetic  as  a  woman.  Emerson  most 
truly  says  that  character  is  far  above  intellect, 
and  this  man's  character  surpassed  even  his  ex- 
alted intellect,  and,  controlling  all  his  great  en- 
dowments, made  the  consummate  beauty  of  his 
life.  I  know  of  no  greater  tribute  ever  paid  to  a 
successful  lawyer,  than  that  which  he  received 
from  Chief  Justice  Shaw  in  his  account  of  the 
effort  that  was  made  to  induce  Mr.  Choate  to 
give  up  his  active  and  exhausting  practice,  and 
to  take  the  place  of  Professor  in  the  Harvard  Law 
School,  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Justice 
Story.  After  referring  to  him  then,  in  1847,  ^^ 
"  the  leader  of  the  Bar  in  every  department  of 


RUFUS  Clio  ATE.  267 

forensic  eloquence,"  and  dwelling  upon  the  great 
advantages  which  would  accrue  to  the  school 
from  the  profound  legal  learning  which  he  pos- 
sessed, he  said :  "  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Choate,  it 
was  considered  quite  indispensable  that  he  should 
reside  in  Cambridge,  on  account  of  the  influence 
which  his  genial  manners,  his  habitual  presence, 
and  th.Q  force  of  his  character ^  would  be  likely  to 
exert  over  the  young  men,  [drawn  from  every 
part  of  the  United  States  to  listen  to  his  instruc- 
tions." 

What  richer  tribute  could  there  be  to  personal 
and  professional  worth,  than  such  words  from 
such  lips?  He  was  the  fit  man  to  mould  the 
characters  of  the  youth,  not  of  the  city  or  the 
State  only,  but  of  the  whole  nation. 

His  power  of  labor  was  inexhaustible,  and 
down  to  the  last  hour  of  his  professional  life  he 
never  relaxed  the  most  acute  and  searching  study, 
not  of  the  case  in  hand  only,  but  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  law,  and  of  everything  in  history,  poe- 
try, philosophy  and  literature  that  could  lend  any- 
thing of  strength  or  lustre  to  the  performance  of 
his  professional  duties.  His  hand,  his  head,  his 
heart,  his  imagination  were  never  out  of  training. 
Think  of  a  man  already  walking  the  giddy  heights 
of  assured  success,  already  a  Senator  of  the 
United  States  from  Massachusetts,  or  even  years 
afterwards,  when  the  end  of  his  professional 
labors  was  already  in  sight,  schooling  himself  to 


268       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

daily  tasks  in  law,  in  rhetoric,  in  oratory,  seeking 
always  for  the  actual  truth,  and  for  the  "  best 
language  "  in  which  to  embody  it — the  ''  precisely 
one  right  word  "  by  which  to  utter  it — think  of 
such  a  man,  with  all  his  ardent  taste  for  the  beau- 
tiful in  every  domain  of  human  life,  going  through 
the  grinding  work  of  taking  each  successive  vol- 
ume of  the  Massachusetts  Reports  as  they  came 
out,  down  to  the  last  year  of  his  practice,  and 
making  a  brief  in  every  case  in  which  he  had  not 
been  himself  engaged,  with  new  researches  to  see 
how  he  might  have  presented  it,  and  thus  to  keep 
up  with  the  procession  of  the  law.  Verily,  **  all 
things  are  full  of  labor;  man  cannot  utter  it: 
the  eye  is  not  satisfied  with  seeing,  nor  the  ear 
filled  with  hearing." 

His  name  will  ever  be  identified  with  trial  by 
jury,  the  department  of  the  profession  in  which 
he  was  absolutely  supreme.  He  cherished  with 
tenacious  affection  and  interest  its  origin,  its  his- 
tory and  its  great  fundamental  maxims — that  the 
citizen  charged  with  crime  shall  be  presumed 
innocent  until  his  guilt  shall  be  established 
beyond  all  reasonable  doubt ;  that  no  man  shall 
be  deprived  by  the  law  of  property  or  reputation 
until  his  right  to  retain  it  is  disproved  by  a  clear 
preponderance  of  evidence  to  the  satisfaction  of 
all  the  twelve ;  that  every  suitor  shall  be  con- 
fronted with  the  proofs  by  which  he  shall  stand 
or  fall;  that  only  after  a  fair  hearing,  with  full 


RUFUS  CHOA  TE,  269 

right  of  cross-examination,  and  the  observance  of 
the  vital  rules  of  evidence,  shall  he  forfeit  life, 
liberty  or  property,  and  then  only  by  the  judg- 
ment of  his  peers. 

And  now  in  conclusion,  let  me  speak  of  his  patri- 
otism. His  glowing  heart  went  out  to  his  country 
with  the  passionate  ardor  of  a  lover.  He  believed 
that  the  first  duty  of  the  lawyer,  orator,  scholar 
was  to  her.  His  best  thoughts,  his  noblest  words, 
were  always  for  her.  Seven  of  the  best  years  of  his 
life,  in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
at  the  greatest  personal  sacrifice,  he  gave  abso- 
lutely to  her  service.  On  every  important  ques- 
tion that  arose,  he  made,  with  infinite  study  and 
research,  one  of  the  great  speeches  of  the  debate. 
He  commanded  the  affectionate  regard  of  his 
fellows,  and  of  the  watchful  and  listening  nation. 
He  was  a  profound  and  constant  student  of  her 
history,  and  revelled  in  tracing  her  growth  and 
progress' from  Plymouth  Rock  and  Salem  Harbor, 
until  she  filled  the  continent  from  sea  to  sea. 
He  loved  to  trace  the  advance  of  the  Puritan 
spirit,  with  which  he  was  himself  deeply  imbued, 
from  Winthrop  and  Endicott,  and  Carver  and 
Standish,  through  all  the  heroic  periods  and 
events  of  colonial  and  revolutionary  and  national 
life,  until,  in  his  own  last  years,  it  dominated  and 
guided  all  of  Free  America.  He  knew  full  well, 
and  displayed  in  his  many  splendid  speeches  and 
addresses,  that  one  unerring  purpose  of  freedom 


2/0        BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

and  of  Union  ran  through  her  whole  history ; 
that  there  was  no  accident  in  it  all ;  that  all  the 
generations,  from  the  Mayflower  down,  marched 
to  one  measure  and  followed  one  flag ;  that  all 
the  struggles,  all  the  self-sacrifice,  all  the  prayers 
and  the  tears,  all  the  fear  of  God,  all  the  soul- 
trials,  all  the  yearnings  for  national  life,  of  more 
than  two  centuries,  had  contributed  to  make  the 
country  that  he  served  and  loved. 


The  Commerce  Clause  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  Trusts. 

Abridged. 

Hon.  Philander  C.  Knox. 

The  extent  to  which  legislative  control  over 
commercial  activities  should  be  exercised  is,  of 
course,  a  question  for  legislative  wisdom.  We 
have  the  experience  of  the  other  nations  to  guide 
us  in  determining  how  far  the  delicate  and  mys- 
terious rules  of  trade  can  be  interfered  with  by 
positive  statutes  without  injury.  That  experi- 
ence teaches  us  that  the  least  interference  con- 
sistent with  the  preservation  of  essential  rights 
should  exist.  Arbitrary  regulations  that  restrain 
free  intercourse  are  usually  found  to  be  unwise. 

Primarily  it  is  for  the  Congress  to  decide 
whether  it  has  the  power,  and  whether  and  to 
what  extent  it  will  execute  it — what  character  of 


THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  THE  TRUSTS.     2/1 

restraints,  whether  all  or  those  only  which  are 
unreasonable  and  injurious  shall  fall  under  the 
ban,  whether  legislation  in  the  first  instance 
should  extend  to  all  commerce  or  only  to  com- 
merce in  articles  of  vital  importance  to  the 
people.  The  time  never  was  when  the  English- 
speaking  people  permitted  the  articles  necessary 
for  their  existence  to  be  monopolized  or  con- 
trolled, and  all  devices  to  that  end  found  con- 
demnation in  the  body  of  their  laws.  The  great 
English  judges  pronounced  that  such  manifes- 
tations of  human  avarice  required  no  statute  to 
declare  their  unlawfulness,  that  they  were  crimes 
against  common  law — that  is,  against  common 
right. 

It  is  difficult  to  improve  upon  the  great  un- 
written code  known  as  the  common  law.  Under 
its  salutary  guaranties  and  restraints  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking people  have  attained  their  wealth 
and  power.  It  condemns  monopoly,  and  con- 
tracts in  restraint  of  trade  as  well.  The  dis- 
tinction, however,  between  restraints  that  are 
reasonable  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances  and 
those  which  are  unreasonable,  is  recognized  and 
has  been  followed  in  this  country  by  the  courts. 

This  distinction  makes  a  rule  that  may  be 
practically  applied,  and  preserves  the  rational 
mean  between  unrestrained  commerce  and  the 
absolute  freedom  of  contract. 

A  law  regulating  interstate  commerce  for  its 


2/2       BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF  TO-DAY. 

protection  against  restraint,  so  broad  as  to  cover 
all  persons  whose  business  is  conducted  under 
agreements  which  are  in  any  way  or  to  any  ex- 
tent in  restraint  of  trade,  might  exclude  thou- 
sands of  small  concerns  conducting  industries  in 
one  State  from  marketing  their  products  in 
others;  but  a  law  which  only  covers  contracts 
and  combinations  in  restraint  of  trade,  as  defined 
by  the  common  law,  would  exclude  all  hurtful 
combinations  and  conspiracies.  Congress  can,  if 
it  sees  fit,  adopt  the  scheme  of  that  law.  In  the 
enforcement  of  such  law  each  case  as  it  arose 
would  be  considered  upon  its  own  facts,  and  the 
rule  of  guidance  would  be  as  laid  down  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States ;  that  is,  **  pub- 
lic welfare  is  first  considered,  and  if  it  be  not 
involved  and  the  restraint  upon  one  party  is  not 
greater  than  protection  to  the  other  party  re- 
quires, the  contract  may  be  sustained.  The 
question  is  whether,  under  the  particular  circum- 
stances of  the  case  and  the  nature  of  the  particu- 
lar contract  involved  in  it,  the  contract  is,  or  is 
not,  reasonable. 

Let  me  give  you  an  illustration  showing  the 
difference  between  a  reasonable  and  unreason- 
able arrangement  or  contract  at  common  law. 
First,  as  to  a  reasonable  one — 

The  case  of  a  sale  of  a  business  and  its  good- 
will is  a  good  illustration.  Here  a  restricted 
covenant    upon  the  part  of   the  vendor  not  to 


THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  THE  TRUSTS,     2/3 

engage  in  competition  in  a  similar  business  is 
often  the  main  consideration  for  the  transaction. 
This  covenant  is,  of  course,  in  restraint  of  trade, 
and  interferes  with  competition.  But  to  make  a 
contract  such  as  this  illegal  is  not  only  restrictive 
of  the  liberty  of  contract,  but  it  is  depriving  one 
of  his  property  without  due  process  of  law. 
Good-will  is  property  capable  of  being  appraised, 
bought,  and  sold.  In  many  cases  it  is  the  main 
ingredient  of  value.  It  represents  all  the  strug- 
gle, industry,  tact  and  judgment  that  make  suc- 
cess. In  estimating  the  worth  of  a  business  it  is 
not  infrequently  reckoned  more  valuable  than 
the  buildings  and  machinery  that  make  up  the 
physical  plant. 

Such  a  contract  has  been  held  reasonable  and 
valid. 

Now  as  to  an  unreasonable  agreement  let  me 
quote  an  illustration  from  the  pen  of  a  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court : 

*'  In  Morris  Run  Coal  Co.  v.  Barclay  Coal  Co, 
(in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania)  the 
principal  question  was  as  to  the  validity  of  a 
contract  made  between  five  coal  corporations  of 
Pennsylvania,  by  which  they  divided  between 
themselves  two  coal  regions,  of  which  they  had 
the  control.  The  referee  in  the  case  found  that 
those  companies  acquired  under  their  arrange- 
ment the  power  to  control  the  entire  market  for 
bituminous  coal  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State, 


274        BEST  AMERICAN'  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

and  their  combination  was,  therefore,  a  restraint 
upon  trade  and  against  public  policy.  In  re- 
sponse to  the  suggestion  that  the  real  purpose  of 
the  combination  was  to  lessen  expenses,  to  ad- 
vance the  quality  of  coal,  and  to  deliver  it  in  the 
markets  intended  to  be  supplied  in  the  best 
order  to  the  consumer,  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Pennsylvania  said  : 

"  This  is  denied  by  the  defendants ;  but  it  seems  to  us  it  is 
immaterial  whether  these  positions  are  sustained  or  not. 
Admitting  their  correctness,  it  does  not  follow  that  these 
advantages  redeem  the  contract  from  the  obnoxious  effects 
so  strikingly  presented  by  the  referee.  The  important  fact 
is  that  these  companies  control  this  immense  coal  field  ,  that 
it  is  the  great  source  of  supply  of  bituminous  coal  to  the 
State  of  New  York  and  large  territories  westward  ;  that  by 
this  contract  they  control  the  price  of  coal  in  this  extensive 
market,  and  make  it  bring  sums  it  would  not  command  if 
left  to  the  natural  laws  of  trade  ;  that  it  concerns  an  article 
of  prime  necessity  for  many  uses  ;  that  its  operation  is  gen- 
eral in  this  large  region,  and  affects  all  who  use  coal  as  a 
fuel,  and  this  is  accomplished  by  a  combination  of  all  the 
companies  engaged  in  this  branch  of  business  in  the  large 
region  where  they  operate.  The  combination  is  wide  in 
scope,  general  in  its  influence,  and  injurious  in  its  effects. 
These  being  its  features,  the  contract  is  against  public 
policy,  illegal,  and  therefore  void.  " 

The  question  of  reasonableness  is  thus  one  for 
the  courts  to  determine,  and  it  is  manifest  that 
this  doctrine  gives  play  to  just  considerations  of 
the  freedom   and   inviolability  of  contracts  with 


THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  THE  TRUSTS.     275 

proper  judicial  safeguards  against  unconscionable 
arrangements  rightly  void  as  contrary  to  public 
policy.  The  Sherman  Act  is  entitled,  *'  An  act 
to  protect  trade  and  commerce  against  unlawful 
restraints,"  etc.,  and  the  able  dissenting  opinion 
in  one  of  the  leading  cases  in  the  Supreme  Court 
argues  from  this  indication  and  other  considera- 
tions that  the  restraints  intended  to  be  stricken 
off  were  only  those  unreasonable  restraints  as  de- 
fined at  common  law.  But  the  law  was  authori- 
tatively decided  to  include  ^// restraints,  whether 
reasonable  or  unreasonable.  Nevertheless,  in  ex- 
tending the  law  it  might  be  deemed  wise  by  Con- 
gress now  to  import  and  impose  this  distinction 
clearly,  for  the  following  reasons  among  others : 
Because  the  hard  and  fast  extreme  rule  may 
work  injustice  in  various  instances  where  a  mod- 
erate restraint  is  either  not  harmful  at  all  to 
the  general  interests,  or  only  slightly  so  in'com- 
parison  with  the  importance  of  the  freedom  and 
sacredness  of  many  contracts  which  public  policy 
does  not  manifestly  condemn  ;  because  the  ques- 
tion of  reasonableness,  as  in  the  common  law, 
should  be  for  the  courts — surely  the  safest  arbiter 
and  reliance  in  human  disputes — and  because, 
from  the  economic  standpoint,  freer  play  would 
thus  be  given,  and  perhaps  "  a  way  out  "  indi- 
cated, in  the  conflict  between  the  important 
principles  of  free  competition  and  combination. 
We  have  no  certain  knowledge  of  the  nature 


276     BEST  AMERICAN  ORATIONS  OF   TO-DAY. 

and  effect  of  the  natural  laws  which  are  carrying 
forward  evolution  in  economic  and  social  phe- 
nomena as  in  all  other  branches  of  biology.  But 
we  may  be  confident  that  in  some  sort  and  with 
whatever  perversions,  public  policies,  constitu- 
tional charters  of  government,  and  municipal 
laws  roughly  manifest  these  natural  laws  and  re- 
flect their  main  tendencies.  Proper  free  play  of 
forces  might  be  maintained  by  importing  into 
the  situation  the  idea  of  "  reasonableness  "  and 
judicial  determination  thereof,  for  the  due  con- 
trol of  unnecessarily  destructive  competition  ; 
and,  for  preventing  the  opposite  danger,  by  de- 
vising a  system  of  regulation  which  would  strike 
the  evils  of  combination  at  the  heart  and  aid 
in  the  great  object  of  restraining  hurtful  re- 
straints and  monopolies,  especially  as  to  the 
prime  necessities  of  life. 

The  conditions  of  our  commercial  life  are  the 
result  in  part  of  an  evolution  of  forces  of  world- 
wide operation.  They  have  developed  gradually, 
and  are  not,  perhaps,  fully  understood.  Laws 
regulating  and  controlling  their  operation,  before 
they  ripen  into  a  complete  system  of  wise  juris- 
prudence, will  be  of  gradual  growth. 


PHILLIPS  BROOKS,  2^7 

Phillips  Brooks. 

Abridged. 

James  H.  Baker,  M.  A.,  LL.  D. 

President  of  University  of  Colorado. 

Contributed  by  the  author. 

Among  the  men  who  did  notable  work  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  Nineteenth  Century 
was  Phillips  Brooks.  Here  was  a  man  who 
succeeded,  to  whom  men  willingly  listened,  who 
fostered  the  best  ideals  of  all  who  came  under  his 
influence. 

To  most  people  an  accentuated  life  has  a 
stronger  attraction  ;  we  enjoy  expression  of  one- 
sided ability,  emotional,  intellectual  or  practical. 
Eccentricities  of  genius  are  spice  to  more  substan- 
tial qualities.  Brooks  was  a  normal  man,  a  well- 
balanced  character.  His  interest  was  in  the  great- 
est problems  of  humanity,  and  it  is  as  true  to- 
day as  when  Plato  taught,  that  in  the  world  of 
knowledge  the  idea  of  good  appears  last  of  all, 
and  is  seen  only  with  an  effort.  Yet  he,  using 
none  of  the  arts  by  which  false  or  superficial 
reputation  is  made,  interested  men  of  every  type 
in  ethical  and  religious  thought — the  highest 
proof  of  spiritual  power. 

As  with  all  great  men,  Phillips  Brooks*  genius 
lay  in  his  receptiveness  and  his  energy.  His 
mind  was  open  to  the  whole  field  of  knowledge 


2/8        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

and  to  all  best  ideas  and  influences — beauties 
in  nature,  traits  of  character,  material  and  social 
forces,  thoughts  of  the  greatest  writers.  He 
selected  the  useful  material  and  rejected  the 
worthless  and  harmful.  He  was  able  to  give 
bountifully,  because  he  received  largely.  Withal 
he  had  the  power  to  work  prodigiously,  and  he 
took  up  each  duty  with  intense  earnestness. 
Like  every  man  who  in  any  field  ever  won  glory, 
he  prepared  for  his  success  with  drudging,  per- 
severing labor,  directed  toward  definite  results. 
There  was  no  mental  or  moral  imbecility,  no 
paralysisof  will,  no  unused,  wasted  or  misdirected 
energy — the  marks  of  human  folly  and  failure. 
He  conserved  his  splendid  powers  and  applied 
them. 

In  character  he  was  simple,  natural,  frank, 
strong  of  will,  of  fine  instincts,  hating  the  base, 
and  loving  whatever  was  beautiful  and  noble. 
Power,  whether  in  natural  forces  or  in  thought 
and  will,  strongly  attracted  him.  He  had  a  sane 
mind,  judging  men  and  events  wisely.  He  had 
an  optimism  and  common-sense  faith  that  carried 
him  safely  through  the  trying  period  of  mate- 
rialistic thought  which  characterized  the  latter 
half  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

To  his  power  for  work  and  his  sound  character 
were  added  traits  necessary  for  practical  success  : 
a  sincere  and  honest  bearing ;  strong  convictions 
spoken  in  simple  and  earnest  manner :   a  sunny 


PHILLIPS  BROOKS,  279 

expression  ;  a  most  saving  spirit  of  mirth  which 
never  wearied  ;  and  above  all,  a  sympathetic 
knowledge  of  men  or  rather  of  the  nature  of  man. 

We  respect  him  for  his  broad  view  and  tolerant 
spirit.  Here  was  a  man  who  advocated  candor 
in  the  pulpit  concerning  growing  interpretations 
of  religious  truth,  and  could  publicly  thank  God 
for  the  life  and  work  of  any  good  man  however 
he  might  differ  in  belief.  He  was  thoroughly 
progressive  in  spirit,  and  this  bit  of  humor  and 
philosophy  is  very  significant:  "The  Puritans! 
How  glad  I  am  they  lived  and  that  they  don't 
live  now.  " 

It  is  said  of  the  greatest  men  that  they 
belong  to  no  particular  time  or  place.  Homer 
and  Aristotle  are  modern.  We  hail  a  new  genius 
in  so  far  as  he  views  the  incidents  of  current 
history  in  large  perspective.  This  man  was 
claimed  by  several  religious  denominations,  for  he 
spoke  great  truths  found  in  all  creeds  because 
common  to  all  minds. 

His  knowledge  of  human  nature  was  gained 
partly  by  direct  analysis,  partly  by  instinctive 
induction  from  his  own  nature.  He  could 
make  men  conscious  of  their  own  proper  stand- 
ard's for  self-respect,  and  for  this  reason  merchants 
and  laborers  would  leave  their  work  on  week 
days  and  listen  to  him  with  respectful  and  deep 
interest. 

In    his   life   and   teachings   he    gave   supreme 


280     BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TJONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

emphasis  to  character.  There  are  outward  mis- 
fortunes which  youth  may  encounter,  when  real 
work  in  life  begins,  and  over  these  one  may 
usually  triumph ;  but  the  inner  defect  of  an 
errant  purpose  and  a  weak  will  is  the  great  mis- 
fortune and  causes  most  of  the  outward  evils. 
The  theme  is,  of  course,  painfully  trite,  but  char- 
acter to-day  is  approaching  par  value.  When 
in  the  strict  business  world,  a  life-assurance  pol- 
icy, or  a  railroad  appointment  practically  implies 
a  temperance  pledge,  and  a  fidelity  bond  pre- 
supposes a  successful  examination  in  morals,  and 
business  men  proclaim  there  is  little  permanent 
success  without  the  policy  of  honesty,  we  may 
well  take  a  new  view  of  the  matter.  Character 
is  the  indispensable  qualification  for  almost  any 
business,  is  the  passport  to  good  society,  is 
needed  in  politics  and  all  social  relations,  is  the 
solution  of  industrial  and  social  problems.  Char- 
acter is  the  surviving  ideal  of  chivalry ;  it  is  the 
ground  of  self-respect;  it  is  the  consummate 
flower  of  the  evolutionary  process,  the  practical 
foundation  of  religion,  and  the  mark  of  our  divine 
nature.  Strong  fathers  and  loving  mothers, 
when  they  send  their  sons  and  daughters  into 
the  world,  wish  them  happiness  and  prosperity, 
but  supremely  do  they  pray  for  a  noble  and 
beautiful  life. 

Tendency  toward  wise  conduct  is  inborn,  but 
its   realization   depends    upon   the   material    for 


PHILLIPS  BROOKS.  28 1 

growth.  Capacity  means  nothing  without  ideas. 
Brooks  succeeded  because  he  constantly  received 
from  many  and  the  best  sources.  Of  highest 
importance  is  the  nature  of  our  images  and  ideas. 
No  skill  of  alchemy  ever  turned  base  metal  into 
gold  ;  good  character  cannot  be  made  from  base 
images,  and  trivial  interests.  He  who  chooses 
the  evil  when  the  good  is  offered  is  undoubtedly, 
as  old  Plato  philosophized,  a  fool,  and  so  much 
the  worse  for  him.  The  cunning  of  the  artisan, 
the  discoveries  of  science,  the  heroism  of  every- 
day life,  the  standards  of  men  who  have  com- 
bined greatness  with  goodness,  nature's  sym- 
bolism, are  lessons  for  the  wise. 

In  Tennyson's  Idylls,  King  Arthur  makes  his 
knights-errant  swear  to  reverence  their  conscience 
as  their  king,  to  redress  human  wrongs,  to  honor 
their  own  word,  to  lead  sweet  lives  in  purest 
chastity,  to  keep  down  the  base,  learn  high 
thought,  amiable  words,  love  of  truth,  and  all 
that  makes  a  man.  The  Arthurian  legends  have 
come  down  to  us  from  a  remote  past,  and  the 
poet's  use  of  them  is  largely  metaphorical ;  but 
we  have  to-day  many  King  Arthurs  of  blameless 
life,  crowned  by  nature,  as  our  exemplars.  We 
can  choose  our  own  companions  of  our  round 
table.  The  Sacred  City  of  Camelot,  where  dwelt 
the  ideal  knights,  is  our  own  habitation,  for  it  is 
but  symbolic  of  the  spiritual  development  of 
man.     We  need  not  go  forth  in  pursuit  of  the 


282        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  V. 

Holy  Grail,  for  the  sacred  cup  but  represents  the 
next  duty,  however  humble,  at  hand. 


Labor  and  Capital* 

Abridged. 
Hon.  Marcus  A.  Hanna. 

Organized  labor,  or  as  we  know  it  better, 
"  union  labor,"  is  an  imported  article.  It  came 
to  us  with  the  influx  of  population  from  the  old 
world,  having  been  established  and  in  operation 
many  years  in  Europe,  and  particularly  in  Eng- 
land. It  came  to  us  having  been  born  among 
conditions — which  do  not  and  cannot  exist  in 
America — where  the  education  and  the  experi- 
ences of  men  taught  them  to  antagonize  the 
upper  class,  and  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  very 
men  who  came  from  the  forge  and  from  the 
workshop  laid  the  foundation  of  our  great  indus- 
trial institutions.  But  those  people  came  full  of 
the  same  prejudice  that  was  inaugurated  there — 
with  an  antagonism  to  capital,  and  feeling  that 
every  man's  interests,  who  was  or  had  been  an 
employer,  was  against  theirs,  until  they  in  turn 
became  the  employers. 

It  is  an  institution  prompted  by  workingmen 
who  seek  to  protect  themselves,  whose  object 
is  mutual  benefit.  During  its  early  history  in 
this    country     there    was    a    natural    prejudice 


LABOR  AND  CAPITAL,  283 

against  it,  because  it  seemed  at  variance  with 
American  institutions,  because  it  seemed  to 
place  itself  in  antagonism  to  the  employers  of 
this  country.  But  it  is  one  of  the  objects  on  the 
part  of  those  who  are  working  for  this  cause  to 
Americanize  labor  organizations,  to  fit  them  for 
their  surroundings  and  conditions  in  this 
country ;  and  to  that  end  the  organization  called 
the  Civic  Federation  is  now  bringing  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public  to  that  question. 

The  motto  of  the  Civic  Federation  is  the 
"  Golden  Rule,"  and  its  basic  policy  is  that  any- 
thing which  is  antagonistic  to  the  best  interests 
of  society  and  morals  shall  be  eradicated.  We 
do  not  believe  in  sympathetic  strikes.  We  do 
not  believe  in  the  boycott.  We  do  not  believe 
in  restriction  of  production  to  enhance  values. 
And  from  that  platform  we  propose  to  urge  and 
to  advocate  a  code  of  principles  and  a  policy 
which  will  elevate  those  who  are  called  upon  to 
arbitrate  for  labor  to  a  position  where  they  will 
fully  appreciate  that  this  is  a  better  way. 

Every  man  has  a  vulnerable  spot.  There  is  a 
side  to  every  man's  character  that  is  approach- 
able, and  the  most  vulnerable  of  all  methods  is 
kindness.  Appeal  to  his  heart  and  to  his  mind 
with  reason  and  you  will  succeed  in  establishing 
a  bond  of  confidence,  and  that  is  the  foundation. 
The  first  thing  to  be  done  practically  in  our 
efforts  to  accomplish  the  best  for  which  we  are 


284       BEST  AMERICAN  ORA  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y, 

striving  is  to  establish  a  condition  between  the 
employer  and  employee  of  absolute  confidence 
one  in  the  other.  Remember  the  Golden  Rule, 
and  to  make  this  proposition  practical,  live  up  to 
the  principles  of  the  Golden  Rule.  Is  it  pract- 
ical? Yes.  You  will  treat  those  men  as  you 
would  have  those  men  treat  you. 

We  have  to  be  thankful  for  an  era  of  pros- 
perity unequaled  in  our  history.  We  are  all  so 
busy  now  that  we  are  likely  to  forget  whence  it 
comes.  Our  condition  may  be  the  natural 
sequence  of  favorable  crops,  of  improved  machin- 
ery, and  an  enterprising  people,  but  after  all, 
there  is  a  higher  power  which  regulates  it  all. 
It  is  our  duty  while  enjoying  this  prosperity  and 
its  fruits,  when  we  come  to  consider  the  mate- 
rial interests  at  stake,  to  remember  that  there 
are  two  factors  along  that  line  which  contribute 
to  it :  the  men  who  work  with  their  hands,  and 
the  men  who  work  with  their  brains ;  partners  in 
toil  who  should  be  partners  in  the  benefits  of 
that  toil. 

Have  you  ever  thought  what  an  influence  we 
are  receiving  into  our  body  politic  when  we  read 
the  statistics  of  the  thousands,  ay,  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  immigrants-  coming  to  this  country 
every  year  from  the  lowest  social  conditions  of 
the  old  world,  full  of  prejudice  and  always  "  agin 
the  government"?  It  is  a  serious  proposition, 
particularly   as    they    very  soon  become  voters, 


LABOR  AND  CAPITAL,  285 

and  have  a  way  of  expressing  their  sentiments 
that  is  very  potent  at  times.  It  is  a  factor,  and 
it  is  a  thing  to  be  considered.  We  have  to  con- 
sider those  men  as  useful  to  us,  yes,  necessary 
under  such  conditions  as  we  have  to-day.  But 
they  are  unlettered,  untaught ;  they  know 
nothing  about  the  spirit  and  the  institutions  of 
our  country.  Some  of  them,  unfortunately, 
think  liberty  is  license,  or  something  to  eat.  It 
is  not  wonderful  that  they  should  affiliate  with 
their  own  class  and  be  content  to  work  it  out, 
and  if  necessary,  to  fight  it  out  from  that  stand- 
point. 

Forget  the  idea  that  there  are  any  classes 
under  our  free  government.  Forget  that  in  this 
great  principle  of  social  advancement  there  is 
any  line  of  demarkation.  Forget  that  the  man 
who  labors  with  his  hands  is  different  from  the 
man  who  labors  with  his  brain.  Bring  all  to- 
gether upon  that  common  platform  of  principle, 
and  then  give  to  it  the  impulse  of  your  better 
advantages  and  education,  of  your  greater  and 
wider  experiences,  of  your  ability  through  mate- 
rial resources,  to  help  every  man  who  needs  it, 
and  you  have  resolved  the  thing  to  a  practical 
proposition  which  will  admit  of  no  doubt  about 
its  future  success,  provided  you  do  not  tire  in 
doing  good. 

A  good  proposition  to  any  Doubting  Thomas 
who  talks  about  the  theory  of  the  question   is. 


286       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

"  Try  it  yourself."  Take  one  man  whom  you 
know  in  your  community,  who  works  with  his 
hands,  whether  on  the  streets,  in  the  shops,  or  in 
the  factories.  Acquaint  yourself  with  the  con- 
ditions against  which  he  must  contend  to  make 
a  living  for  himself  and  family  ;  see  what  oppor- 
tunities he  has,  compare  them  with  your  own, 
and  then  ask  yourself,  Is  there  anything  I  can  do 
to  help  the  situation?  Is  that  theory?  You 
may  find  that  sickness  or  other  misfortune  has 
come  to  him.  He  is  too  proud  to  ask  alms.  If 
you  find  that  he  and  his  family  are  suffering 
under  these  conditions,  do  not  wait  until  he  gets 
to  the  poorhouse,  or  a  committee  organized  by 
law  shall  ascertain  these  facts,  but  make  your- 
self responsible.  Is  there  any  better  way  by 
which  you  can  bring  him  into  closer  business 
relations  than  to  show  him  that  you  recognize 
his  manhood  and  are  working  for  the  best  con- 
ditions the  community  can  give  to  carry  him  on 
throusfh  the  work  and  trials  of  life? 

The  practical  result  of  a  strike,  nine  times  out 
of  ten,  comes  from  a  misunderstanding  or  from 
indifference  on  the  part  of  one  side  or  the  other. 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  men  who  are 
associated  with  the  civic  Federation  on  the  part 
of  labor,  twelve  of  them,  all  leaders  of  great 
labor  organizations,  are  just  as  competent,  in 
conferences  upon  this  subject,  just  as  earnest 
and  just  as   honest    in    their   treatment    of   this 


LABOR  AND  CAPITAL,  28/ 

matter  as  the  other  side.  Recognize  that  fact, 
give  them  credit,  and  the  battle  is  more  than 
half  won.  Make  them  feel  that  your  interest  in 
them  is  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  both,  and 
believe  in  their  sensibility  and  their  ability  to 
manage  their  affairs  as  well  as  you  can  manage 
yours,  and  you  will  create  a  trust  that  no  law 
can  break  ;  the  kind  of  trust  for  which  you  need  no 
constitutional  amendment.  It  is  a  great,  broad 
principle  on  which  the  very  foundations  of  our 
government  rest. 

There  is  a  great  deal  said,  from  a  demagogical 
standpoint,  against  organized  capital.  Looking 
back  through  the  la^t  hundred  years  we  are 
almost  bewildered  at  the  complexity  of  improve- 
ments in  every  industrial  phase  of  our  institu- 
tions, improvements  which  have  advanced  the 
interest  of  the  laboring  men  as  well  as  that  of 
the  capitalist.  This  rapid  advance  is  the  culmi- 
nation of  educated  intellect  by  its  practical  appli- 
cation to  every  form  of  industry  and  every 
profession.  It  is  just  as  natural  a  sequence  as 
that  one  following  upon  the  rising  and  the  set- 
ting sun.  Organized  capital  was  just  as  neces- 
sary to  get  this  condition  of  things,  as  any  part 
of  it.  This  organization  of  capital  has  come  to 
stay,  just  as  organized  labor  has  come  to  stay, 
and  for  the  same  reason  it  is  necessary.  You 
cannot  separate  the  interests  of  capital  and  labor. 
If  it  is  good  for  one  to  be  organized  for  any  pur- 


2b«       BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

pose,  it  is  good  for  the  other  for  the  same  reason. 
They  are  both  good.  They  are  both  necessary, 
as  applied  to  our  conditions  to-day  and  to  our 
development  for  the  future.  The  combination 
of  capital  has  brought  to  our  industrial  institu- 
tions greater  economic  results ;  it  has  brought 
an  increase  and  expansion  of  trade,  and  higher 
wages  to  the  men.  When  you  talk  about  organ- 
ized capital  as  a  monopoly  in  this  country  you 
talk  nonsense.  There  is  no  monopoly  in  the 
United  States  save  that  protected  by  a  United 
States  patent,  for  there  is  not  a  field  of  industry 
in  this  country  not  open  to  anyone  and  every- 
one who  sees  fit  to  embark  capital  in  that  line. 

As  capital  is  organized  and  produces  beneficial 
results,  labor  which  was  organized  many  years 
before  and  has  grown  in  efficiency  ever  since, 
will  be  the  first  to  recognize,  and  it  does  recog- 
nize to-day,  the  fact  that  the  organization  of  cap- 
ital and  the  combination  of  talent  and  capital 
produces  results  which  give  to  them  better  op- 
portunities. When  you  reflect  that  many  of  the 
great  masters  in  every  branch  of  industry  in  the 
United  States  came  from  the  loom  and  forge  and 
furnace,  you  can  see  the  inducement  for  compe- 
tition. 

The  object  lesson  stands  bright  before  the 
operator  when  he  with  his  rod  is  working  at  the 
furnace  to-day  and  remembers  that  the  man  who 
pays   him,  once    worked    there    himself.     When 


A  RETROSPECT  OF  ORATORY.  289 

you  attempt  to  put  a  check  on  enterprise  backed 
by  ability  and  brains,  you  limit  all  progress  by 
saying  that  you  must  not  have  any  organizations, 
that  they  are  a  detriment  to  the  country.  They 
are  not.  Union  is  not  only  strong  for  the  mu- 
tual benefit  of  labor,  but  strong  for  the  develop- 
ment of  enterprise  and  ability  diverse  in  their 
motives,  but  which  when  brought  together  form 
a  force  which  is  irresistible.  There  is  a  combi- 
nation not  only  of  money,  but  of  everything  that 
contributes  to  the  successful  putting  together 
of  material  and  intellect  and  ability  and  pushing 
it  to  its  furthest  limits,  and  already  that  enter- 
prise has  reached  far  beyond  the  confines  of  our 
borders. 


A  Retrospect  of  Oratory. 

Lorenzo  Sears. 

From  "The  History  of  Oratory."  By  permission  of 
Scott,  Foresman  and  Company,  Publishers. 

A  RETROSPECT  of  oratory  during  twenty-four 
centuries  is  not  unlike  a  glance  along  the  horizon 
line  of  a  mountain  range  with  its  elevations  and 
depressions ;  for  the  history  of  eloquence,  like 
that  of  liberty,  its  companion,  is  marked  by 
diversified  fortunes.  On  this  horizon  there  are 
lofty  peaks  showing  where  volcanic  fires  reared 
their  monuments ;  there  are  lesser  heights  beside 


290        BEST  AMERICAN  OR  A  TIONS  OF  TO-DA  Y. 

them  and  low  table  lands  and  shadowy  valleys 
and  sunless  gorges. 

The  mountain  tops,  upon  which  light  perpetu- 
ally lingers  are  named  for  the  Greek  Demos- 
thenes and  Cicero  the  Roman  ;  for  John  of  Anti- 
och  and  Tertullian  of  Carthage  and  Ambrose  of 
Milan ;  for  Savonarola  of  Florence,  Peter  of 
Picardy,  Jaques  de  Vitry  and  his  successors  at 
the  court  of  Louis  the  Great.  Westward  there 
is  a  giant  group  in  England,  and  across  the 
ocean  another  group  upholding  the  honor  of  free 
and  fearless  speech  in  the  remotest  West.  A 
more  deliberate  view  also  reveals  eloquence  and 
liberty  going  hand  in  hand  from  the  Orient  to 
the  Occident;  in  Greece  amidst  Hellenic  resis- 
tance to  Asiatic  despotism,  in  Rome,  in  a  long 
warfare  against  imperialism,  in  the  early  Church, 
against  papal  usurpation,  in  mediaeval  ages, 
against  the  sacrilege  of  the  Saracen,  at  the  Re- 
formation, in  protest  against  ecclesiastical  cor- 
ruption, in  France,  against  the  dominion  of  Satan 
in  high  places,  and  later  against  the  grinding 
oppression  of  the  people  by  kings.  In  England, 
voices  are  lifted  up  for  authority  tempered  with 
justice  and  generosity,  in  America  for  equal 
rights  of  all  subjects  of  the  Crown,  and  afterward 
for  general  liberty  under  the  laws,  with  the  nat- 
ural sequence  of  freedom  to  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land.  In  all  this  movement  there  can  also 
be  observed  diverse  phases  of  expression  in  differ- 
ent  ages   and   countries.     Attic   simplicity   and 


A  RE  TROSPECT  OF  OR  A  TOR  Y.  29 1 

strength  running  into  Asian  splendor,  degenera- 
ting at  length  into  barbaric  tawdriness,  followed 
by  a  restored  severity  not  untainted  with  the 
finery  of  a  later  time,  passing  into  an  almost  sav- 
age crudeness,  uncouth  and  grotesque,  to  be 
refined  at  last  by  the  revival  of  letters  to  a  style 
blending  the  classic  and  romantic  tendencies, 
which  henceforward  will  fare  on  together  accord- 
ing to  the  temperament  of  each  nation,  age,  and 
orator  as  the  subject,  the  issue,  and  the  occasion 
shall  demand.  In  all  the  long  procession  there 
is  also  a  similar  variety  of  method  and  manner 
and  form,  the  same  repetition  of  unchangeable 
principles  in  a  diversity  of  manifestation  that  pre- 
vails in  material  a^nd  immaterial  nature  through- 
out the  universe,  so  far  as  observation  has  reached; 
variety  in  unity,  diversity  of  form  amidst  uni- 
formity of  law,  changing  phases  of  expression, 
but  ceaseless  persistance  of  purpose  toward  larger 
truth,  a  larger  liberty,  and  a  nobler  life.  Until, 
however,  these  are  more  completely  attained  it 
cannot  be  affirmed  that  the  movement  which  has 
continued  so  long  with  various  degrees  of  accelera- 
tion will  wholly  cease,  or  that  there  will  be  no 
need  of  the  speaking  man  in  the  future.  There- 
fore the  necessity  still  remains  of  gathering  up 
the  lessons  left  by  masters  of  the  art  in  the  past, 
that,  profiting  by  their  successes  and  their  fail- 
ures, the  men  of  the  present  and  the  future  may 
know  how  they  can  best  instruct,  convince  an;^ 
persuade. 


Do  YOU  know  HOW  to  Attract 
and  Hold  an  Audience  ? 


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JNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   GALIFORI 


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